Gas mafia's 41 suspects to remain in custody
The Budapest Metropolitan Court has upheld on second instance the detention of two gas trading company executives suspected of billion-forint budget fraud. A total of 41 people are involved in the case.
Gas mafia's 41 suspects to remain in custody
The higher court upheld the prosecution's appeal and has remanded two businessmen into custody, who are suspected of billion-forint tax fraud – the Budapest Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office announced.
The investigation began in the summer of 2024, when it came to light that several natural gas importing companies had set up a billing system to reduce their tax liabilities. According to suspicion, since autumn 2023 they had minimised value-added tax by purchasing technical goods on paper from Hungarian companies, then selling them on to European partners. In reality, however, these transactions never took place.
Proceedings are underway against forty-one people in the criminal case. Five individuals – including the two company executives now remanded in custody – are accused of budget fraud committed with the intent to cause substantial property damage. A further thirty-six suspects are under investigation for producing false documents.
The two company executives were first arrested in early 2025 and had been in prison since then. However, in mid-June, the investigating judge released them on bail and imposed a milder measure of restraint. The prosecution, by contrast, appealed, arguing that without the most stringent measure, the objectives of the proceedings could not be secured.
The authorities emphasised: the extensive investigation also reveals the foreign connections of the case, in order to identify all those involved and recover the damage in full.
Source: 444.hu
Source: 444