Hungary’s anti-corruption agency said on Friday it had seized cash worth $19.5 million (£14.8 million) buried in forests and hidden elsewhere during an investigation into a former minister in former nationalist leader Viktor Orbán’s cabinet.
Miklós Seszták, Hungary’s minister of national development between 2014 and 2018, is accused of accepting bribes as part of a scheme involving the state transport company, purchasing used buses at inflated prices.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar won a landslide victory in April’s elections, ending Orbán’s 16 years in power after promising to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of power during his rival’s rule.
Seszták, two other Orbán-era ministers and the former prime minister’s brother have been detained in separate cases as corruption investigations have gathered pace in recent weeks.
The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH), an anti-corruption body with broad powers created as part of Magyar’s accountability campaign, said it raided several locations on Thursday and Friday as part of the criminal proceedings against Seszták.
“During the search, investigators discovered large sums of cash: buried in forests, hidden in agricultural buildings and warehouses as well as residential properties, and stored in high-value safes in isolated locations,” the statement said.
“The total amount of cash found during the two-day search was 5,071,632,000 forints, 2,658,350 euros and 1,257,100 US dollars,” he added, bringing the combined value to $19.5 million.
NVVH said its staff deposited the money into the Hungarian State Treasury account.
“Upon receipt, 12 Treasury employees spent 8 hours counting the money using 5 counting machines,” Finance Minister András Kármán said on Facebook.
Magyar hailed the seizure as a potential turning point.
“This officially marks the end of the Fidesz-KDNP mafia! » he said, referring to Orbán’s former governing coalition.
The former leader did not react to the latest developments. Orbán had previously denounced the investigations targeting his entourage as “political persecution” aimed at imprisoning him.
Gn world
