"A French video is circulating alleging Zelenskys offshore company was involved in buying a French Bank," says a March 6, 2025 X post from Chay Bowes, a Moscow-based Irish journalist previously accused of spreading Kremlin-friendly disinformation.

"The unverified report says Milleis Banque was bought via his offshore Co. Maltex for approx 1.2B."

The post includes a French-language video, supposedly showing a news report from a broadcaster called "TV12" reporting on the acquisition. The video's chyron says a corporation with ties to Zelensky bought the bank for between 1.1 billion and 1.25 billion euros ($1.19 billion to $1.36 billion dollars).

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Screenshot from X taken March 12, 2025

The same claim has circulated elsewhere on X, Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, TikTok, YouTube, Rumble and Gettr -- including in French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Czech and Bulgarian. It was also reported by several other news websites, including the state-owned broadcaster Russia Today and a network of sites the French government has accused of pushing pro-Moscow narratives.

The posts are the latest example of disinformation targeting Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials, and follow false claims that he has bought vast estates and luxury goods or is stealing public money.

In 2021, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project found Zelensky had gifted a stake in Maltex Muticapital Corporation, based in the British Virgin Islands, to a business partner and aid soon before...

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