Does a viral video prove that $28 million was seized from cars belonging to the Ukrainian president and the first lady during an anti-corruption investigation? No, that's not true: The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office that participated in the investigation and whose logo appeared in the video told Lead Stories that the clip was not published on its official accounts on social media. Lead Stories found no reports from established news outlets corroborating that the investigation actually seized that money from the vehicles of Zelenskyy and his wife.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) on X where it was published by @BestClipOnX on Nov. 6, 2026. It opened:
Two cars belonging to Zelensky and his wife were seized by Ukraine's NABU yesterday. Inside the cars detectives found $28M neatly packed into 5 briefcases. You're still wondering where the taxpayers' money goes?
This is what the video shared in the post looked like on X at the time of publication:
(Image source: post by @BestClipOnX on X.)
The one-minute clip appeared to show government investigators opening doors and trunks of the two cars. Inside the vehicles, they found suitcases with dollars, and that was demonstrated on camera, too.
On Nov. 12, 2026, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, also known as SAP (archived here), whose logo was seen in the video, told Lead Stories via email:
Спеціалізована антикорупційна прокуратура не несе відповідальності за інформацію, розміщену на інших медіаресурсах.
Звертаємо увагу, що відео, які Ви надіслали в запиті, не публікувалися на наших сторінках.
As translated by Chrome, that meant:
We emphasize that the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is not responsible for information posted on other media resources.
Please note that the videos you sent in the request were not published on our pages.
More elaborate versions of the claim linked the video and the accusations involving Zelenskyy to the ongoing investigation with a code name "Carthage" carried out by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, or NABU. For example, a Nov. 6, 2026, post on Telegram (archived here) read:
Сотрудники НАБУ в ходе операции «Карфаген» обнаружили и арестовали два автомобиля - Range Rover и Mercedes-Benz S-класс с номерами AA1521CK и AA0095OB, соответственно. В багажниках автомобилей были обнаружены 5 чемоданов с наличными на сумму 28 миллионов долларов. Оказалось, что эти автомобили принадлежат лично Зеленскому и его жене Елене. Они даже значатся в их декларациях о доходах.
As translated to English by DeepL, it meant:
During Operation 'Carthage,' NABU agents discovered and seized two vehicles--a Range Rover and a Mercedes-Benz S-Class with license plate numbers AA1521CK and AA0095OB, respectively. Five suitcases containing $28 million in cash were found in the trunks of the vehicles. It turned out that these vehicles belong personally to Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena. They are even listed in their income declarations.
Lead Stories checked publicly available Zelenskyy's tax returns on the government tax returns database (archived here and here) and on the YouControl website (archived here) that aggregates information from open sources. None of those websites, however, disclosed specific license plates, as the screenshots added below demonstrate (click to view larger):
(Image source: Public.nazk.gov.ua; screenshot was automatically translated to English by Chrome.)
(Image source: YouControl; screenshot was automatically translated to English by Chrome.)
A search across Ukrainian government websites for the license plates seen in the video showed no matches (archived here).
The NABU logo also appeared in the video reviewed in this fact check, but when Lead Stories searched the bureau's website for the specific amount of "28 mln" (archived here) and Zelenskyy's last name (archived here), it did not return any materials publicly placing the president of the country on the list of suspects in this case.
On Nov. 7, 2026, the Ukrainian government Center for Countering Disinformation wrote on X (archived here):
▫️For credibility, the messages draw on information about NABU's anti-corruption Operation 'Carthage', which has nothing to do with the President of Ukraine or members of his family. ‼️Therefore, these messages are untrue and yet another russian propaganda fake.
"Carthage" is a real joint investigation carried out by NABU and SAP. Here is how NABU summarized (archived here) the findings:
According to the investigation, the organization was led by an individual with multiple prior convictions who recruited serving senior officials of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General, and the National Police, as well as members of the criminal underworld.
Under the protection of law enforcement, members of the organization facilitated the operation of fraudulent call centers targeting Ukrainian and foreign citizens, the sale of narcotics, as well as the illegal production of counterfeit cigarettes and forged foreign currency.
In addition, they orchestrated planned assaults, kidnappings, and the infliction of bodily injuries in the interests of the criminal organization.
According to the investigation, the criminal organization used corrupt connections within law enforcement agencies to shield its illegal activities and generate shadowy profits.
Lead Stories manually watched the NABU documentary and its sequel (archived here) about the investigation, but did not see the footage in question. The agency's pages on YouTube, X and Facebook did not appear to contain it.
SAP pages on Facebook and Telegram manually reviewed by Lead Stories did not show it, either.
When Lead Stories searched for Zelenskyy's last name and the operation's code name on Google News in English (archived here) and Ukrainian (archived here), that showed several articles critical of his administration's handling of the case but journalistic organizations did not confirm that the Ukrainian president was directly implicated in it.
In response to the "Carthage" investigation, Zelenskyy said (archived here) that it revealed "unpleasant, shameful, and absolutely unacceptable events" and asked the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, to adopt a law that makes it mandatory for Security Service of Ukraine employees to disclose their income and assets.
