Budapest municipal corruption network: four politicians remanded in custody
Four well-known politicians have been remanded in custody for thirty days in a corruption case involving approximately two billion forints related to green space maintenance work. Investigators suspect that over many years, they distributed tens of millions of forints through overpriced and fabricat
Budapest municipal corruption network: four politicians remanded in custody
Four prominent public figures have been placed behind bars for thirty days in a capital city bribery case. The court ordered the remand of Zsolt Molnár, Socialist representative, Zsolt Láng and Péter Puskás, both from Fidesz's ranks, and Gergely Őrsi, leader of Budapest's 2nd district. According to the allegations, members of a family network that has been operating for years based on park maintenance activities received the money. Politicians from Momentum are also involved.
The investigation began in Óbuda, where irregularities were discovered. At the centre of the case stands Z. Zsolt, who was the real leader of a corporate group comprising horticultural and public catering enterprises. He admitted to the prosecutor's office that he regularly transferred millions of forints to office holders. He deducted the money from the company's profits, and according to the charges, he paid it out for overpriced and sometimes completely fabricated public procurement transactions.
Gergő Czeglédy, the former Óbuda deputy mayor, had already reached an agreement with authorities earlier to cooperate. Afterwards, Z. Zsolt also gave incriminating testimony, in the hope of receiving a lighter sentence.
According to the entrepreneur's claims, he accepted bribes in the hundreds of millions of forints on behalf of Mayor Gergely Karácsony and other left-wing figures. The mayor denied this and emphasised that it was during his tenure that the previous subcontracting system was dismantled. By establishing Budapest Municipal Services (BKM), the capital began maintaining green spaces with its own employees and equipment. According to Karácsony, the "principal briber" mentioned in the statement himself admitted that the money "could have gone into the Danube", since it could not be enforced at city leadership level.
BKM filed reports with the police on two occasions regarding green space subcontracting agreements over the past ten years and launched civil proceedings against nine companies.
Source: Index
Source: Index