Hungarian authorities announced on Friday that they recovered approximately €17.69 million in hidden cash as part of an investigation into a former minister who served under ex-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office said it found large quantities of cash buried in forests, concealed in agricultural buildings, hidden in warehouses, and stored in a high-value safe in a discreet area.
Among the recovered assets were over 5 billion forints, approximately €2.6 million, and $1.2 million, totalling around €17.69 million. This significant discovery followed a two-day search conducted in Budapest and three additional counties across Hungary.
The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, recently established by the new government, possesses both investigative and prosecutorial powers to address cases involving the misappropriation of public funds and suspected corruption, which critics have indicated were prevalent during Orbán’s administration.
This seizure is part of ongoing criminal proceedings against Miklós Seszták, the former National Development Minister, who is suspected of accepting more than €34 million in bribes and kickbacks associated with vehicle procurements through Hungary’s state bus company, as well as various state construction projects.
Seszták was taken into police custody in late September. A video released by the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office showed investigators alongside large bundles of cash, as well as footage of shovels being used to excavate in what appeared to be a forest at night.
On Friday evening, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said 12 employees from the Hungarian State Treasury spent eight hours counting the recovered cash, using five money-counting machines. He said this discovery “officially marks the end of the Fidesz-KDNP mafia,” referring to Orbán’s former ruling coalition. He remarked, “As of today, Viktor Orbán is a proven mafia boss. A fallen mafia boss. And Fidesz is a criminal organisation.”
“Viktor Orbán, the mafia boss, is currently hiding and staying silent about his minister, who has been burying billions in the forest. On Fidesz websites, Seszták is still listed as a political prisoner, but members of his own community are already trying to get rid of him. Panic and collapse within the mafia,” Magyar posted on X.
In another post on X, the prime minister highlighted that “If there are any honest, decent members of the Fidesz-KDNP parliamentary group, they will surely distance themselves from the mafia immediately and resign their mandate. Anyone who stays will be seen as part of Orbán’s mafia.”
This development reflects the government’s commitment to addressing suspected abuses that transpired during Orbán’s tenure. Earlier this week, police also took into custody Orbán’s younger brother as part of a broader investigation into alleged human trafficking and influence peddling. Numerous other officials from the Orbán era, including the former governor of the Central Bank, are currently in police custody on suspicion of fraud and related corruption crimes.
Last month, the Central Investigative Prosecutor’s Office said the detention of bank governor György Matolcsy was linked to the alleged misuse of a central bank foundation endowed with 288 billion forints (approximately €787 million) in public assets.
“While more evidence emerges every day of how the Orbán mafia looted our country, the TISZA government has already delivered on many of its important promises in just six months. We keep moving forward. Step by step…” posted PM Magyar on X on 14 November.
Orbán, whose far-right Fidesz party suffered a substantial defeat to the centre-right, pro-European Tisza party led by Prime Minister Magyar in April, has characterised these investigations and detentions as politically motivated “tyranny” intended to marginalise him from the political landscape.
This article used information from The Associated Press.
