György Matolcsy remanded in custody: court orders one-month detention
Budapest Central District Court on Friday ordered one month of pre-trial detention for György Matolcsy, the former governor of the Hungarian National Bank. His son is under a red notice.
Court orders pre-trial detention for György Matolcsy
Budapest Central District Court on Friday placed György Matolcsy, the former president of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB), in one month of pre-trial detention, according to Daily News Hungary. The court made the decision based on suspicion of bribery and forging official documents.
Anna Madarasi, a spokeswoman for the court, said the body ordered 30-day detention for a representative involved in concluding the loan agreement – who was also a party to the transaction underlying the suspicion – and the lawyer involved in the securities transaction, Mihály Valkó and Tamás Sándor. The spokeswoman added that György Matolcsy did not make a statement, nor did the other two suspects.
The court established that there were sound reasons to maintain the risk that the suspects would flee, go into hiding, obstruct the proceedings, or commit further offences. The body determined that a less strict compulsory measure would not be appropriate, and there were no doubts regarding the well-founded suspicion of committing the crime or the material damage that had occurred, Madarasi said.
Matolcsy was questioned on Wednesday by the Central Prosecutor's Office for Financial Crimes (KNYF) on suspicion of financial fraud and forgery of official documents. According to KNYF information, the proceedings concern an attempt to transfer control of assets belonging to the MNB PADME Foundation through a sham securities loan agreement to a group of people over whom Matolcsy would have had influence after his mandate at the central bank expired. The agreement, signed one day before the end of his mandate, was intended to enable Matolcsy and his son to use the assets for their own benefit.
The precise amount of material damage that occurred cannot yet be determined, but "significantly exceeds" the 500 million forint threshold that defines legally particularly significant property damage, according to KNYF.
The spokeswoman also confirmed that the prosecution initiated the issuance of a European and international red notice against Ádám Matolcsy and György Stófa – the head of companies managing the assets of MNB foundations. Following appeals by the suspects and their lawyers, the court order for detention is not yet final.
Source: Daily News Hungary