Arrest of former Hungarian central bank governor in €550 million corruption scandal
György Matolcsy, former governor of the Hungarian central bank, was detained as part of an investigation into corruption worth €550 million.
Matolcsy detained in €550 million corruption scandal
According to In.gr, György Matolcsy, 71, former governor of the Hungarian central bank (MNB) and a once close associate of Viktor Orbán, was detained on Wednesday as part of one of the largest corruption cases investigated in the country.
Matolcsy served as governor of the MNB from 2013 to 2025. The scandal is directly connected to his tenure and is estimated to have caused losses to public funds of approximately 200 billion forints, that is €550 million.
"My client is suspected of the criminal offence of economic fraud that caused significant economic damage and the offence of using a forged private document," Matolcsy's lawyer Pál Bátky said to the news website Telex.
Earlier the same day, the Hungarian prosecution announced that it was conducting "coordinated investigations" as part of the preliminary procedure for misuse of resources, without providing further details until their completion. As part of the investigation, statements were taken from Matolcsy and his associates prior to their detention, while searches of premises were carried out and evidence was seized in cooperation with other law enforcement authorities.
According to Telex, the arrests also include a lawyer and the owner of a construction company. Hungarian media reported in parallel that an international arrest warrant was issued for Ádám Matolcsy, the son of the former governor. The investigative outlet Direkt36 and other news organisations have reported that companies and entrepreneurs linked to Ádám Matolcsy benefited from some of the disputed transactions.
The case concerns a series of companies founded by the central bank during Matolcsy's tenure, as well as how their assets were managed. Last year, Hungary's State Audit Office concluded that some of these assets "disappeared" through investments and real estate transactions.
Matolcsy was a key figure in shaping Orbán's economic policy and was considered one of the former prime minister's closest associates, who called him his "right hand". In recent years, however, their relationship had cooled as suspicions accumulated of irregularities during his tenure at the central bank.
The current prime minister, Péter Magyar, who took over the government last April after defeating Orbán in elections with a promise to tackle corruption, has repeatedly criticised the prosecution authorities for the slow progress of the investigation, which began last year.
The former governor refused to make any statement. His lawyer told Telex that it was "very difficult for us to handle this five-page indictment that contained a large number of items" and that, "since we do not know what evidence it is based on, we will not be able to respond".
Source: In.gr