Seizure of €17.7 million in investigation into former Hungarian Development Minister
Hungarian authorities have seized €17.7 million in cash, buried in forests and hidden in warehouses, as part of an investigation against former Minister Miklós Sesztakay.
Cash buried in forests: €17.7 million seizure in corruption case in Hungary
According to In.gr, Hungarian authorities have seized €17.7 million in cash — part of which was found buried in forests or hidden in rural warehouses — as part of a corruption investigation against Miklós Sesztakay, former Development Minister in Viktor Orbán's government.
Sesztakay, who held the Development portfolio from 2014 to 2018, is accused of receiving bribes in connection with a case involving the purchase of second-hand buses from Hungary's state transport company at inflated prices.
The National Asset Recovery and Protection Service (NVVH), an anti-corruption body with extensive powers established by the new Hungarian government, announced that it had carried out searches at multiple locations during Thursday and Friday, as part of the criminal proceedings against Sesztakay.
"During the searches, significant amounts of cash were found: buried in forests, hidden in agricultural buildings and warehouses as well as in private residences, and also placed in a large-value safe deposit box located in a remote area," the service said in a statement.
The total amount found during two days of searches amounts to 5,071,632,000 forints, €2,658,350 and $1,257,100 — equivalent to €17.7 million, according to the NVVH.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who won April's election ending 16 years of Orbán's governance, has committed to conducting thorough investigations into allegations of corruption and abuse of power under the previous administration. The seizure, Magyar commented, "formally signals the end of the Fidesz-KDNP mafia" — referring to the two parties of the governing coalition under Orbán.
Sesztakay, two other former ministers and Orbán's brother have already been arrested and are being held in separate cases. The former prime minister has not commented on the latest developments, but has repeatedly characterised investigations against his circle as "political persecution aimed at imprisoning him".
Source: In.gr