György Matolcsy testifies before court – his defence lawyer speaks out
György Matolcsy, former MNB president, is testifying before the court, according to his lawyer Pál Bátki. Economic fraud and the use of forged documents are the suspected offences.
Testimony before the court: Matolcsy's lawyer emphasises the securities lending contract
According to portfolio.hu, György Matolcsy was transported to the court building in five police vans. Journalists present were allowed only into a cordoned-off section of the hall, so they could not reach the corridor leading to the courtroom.
Matolcsy's defence lawyer, Pál Bátki, told journalists that the former MNB president would give testimony at the hearing. At Wednesday's suspect interrogation, Matolcsy had not yet made a statement – he was questioned at the Central Investigating Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of the criminal offence of economic fraud and the misdemeanour of using forged private documents, after which the prosecutor proposed his arrest.
Bátki, referring to a video published on ATV, emphasised that the subject of the suspicion was a securities lending contract, not the alleged loss of property worth hundreds of billions previously mentioned. "The alleged loss of property suffered by the Pallas Athéné Domus Meriti Foundation is not mentioned at all in the suspicion formulated against my client," the lawyer stated, adding that this is also reflected in the documents.
Bátki also reported that on Thursday they received a volume of investigative materials comprising six thousand pages, the examination of which requires considerable time. Because of this, he is unable to be available to the press to the extent that "would justly interest the public," he added.
Regarding the question of a plea bargain, the lawyer answered clearly: "Nobody has concluded a plea bargain," and no agreement could have been reached in this sense, since the suspicions arose only two days ago.
Matolcsy is being held in police custody at the Gyorskocsi utca detention facility. Regarding his son, Ádám Matolcsy, the defence lawyer has no knowledge, according to his own statement. Bátki announced that he would propose the application of a milder coercive measure or its complete waiver, meaning he is requesting that his client not be held in detention.
An international arrest warrant is already in effect against Ádám Matolcsy and György Stofa. A decision by the court is still awaited regarding the issue of a European arrest warrant. The Central Investigating Prosecutor's Office proposed an international rather than a European arrest warrant because it is believed that the former central bank governor's son and business partner are residing outside the European Union.
Source: Google News HU — Crime (hu)