Businessman paid tens of millions to politicians for park maintenance contracts, but without success
A Budapest businessman transferred corruption payments to public figures hoping for green space work. The money did not result in a contract, and several people ended up behind bars in the investigation.
Businessman paid tens of millions to politicians for park maintenance contracts, but without success
In hopes of Budapest park maintenance deals, a local businessman transferred several hundred million forints to various politicians, including a public figure known as Pék. His aim was for his company, Pannon Park Forest Kft., to win contracts from the Budapest municipal authority. However, the financial transactions were unsuccessful: the company ultimately failed to secure a single job.
Z. Zsolt – who previously served eighteen months in prison – allegedly stated in investigative materials that he carried out corruption payments to public figures over a ten-year period. In early June, several people involved in the case were brought before a court and placed in pre-trial detention. The politicians in question rejected all allegations made against them in their statements.
According to the businessman, Pék also pressured him to pass on a bribe to a public catering company in exchange for a local party organisation not criticising the company's local contract. According to Z. Zsolt's claim, he confronted Pék several times over the amounts paid, and during one such exchange stated that he could have thrown the money into the river.
Budapest's leader, Gergely Karácsony, responded to the case in an online post. He stated that the municipal authority had already begun dismantling corruption networks much earlier: they established Budapest Public Works, which carries out green space maintenance directly after eliminating subcontractors. To this end, they employed 140 staff and purchased work machinery worth over 300 million forints. They filed criminal reports concerning cemetery green space management and launched civil proceedings against nine companies in connection with their performance over the past decade.
Last year, Budapest Public Works filed a report for the second time against the circle of former subcontractors contracted for green space tasks. The chief mayor announced that next month they would remove parking machines from the city, which for years had provided revenue to the "parking mafia".
Source: Telex
Source: Telex