Hungary finds more than 17 million euros supposedly hidden by a former minister of Víktor Orbán

Hungarian authorities have found cash worth about 17.7 million euros, hidden in different places in the country, during an investigation for alleged corruption against a former minister of the previous prime minister, the ultranationalist Víktor Orbán.

According to Hungarian media reports this Saturday, the new National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH) found the money buried in forests and hidden in agricultural buildings, warehouses, homes and a safe.

The money, which was distributed in dollars, euros and Hungarian forints, was allegedly hidden by former Minister of National Development Miklos Sesztak, accused of having collected bribes while in office between 2014 and 2018, explains the news portal 444.hu. Sesztak has been in pretrial detention since the end of last September and is one of three former Orbán ministers imprisoned for alleged corruption in recent weeks.

The funds found in the framework of this investigation were deposited on Friday into the State Treasury. The Minister of Finance, András Karman, pointed out that it took a dozen officials from that institution eight hours, using bill counters, to count the recovered cash.

The Hungarian Prime Minister, the conservative Péter Magyar, who defeated Orbán in the elections last April, said on the social network Facebook that this discovery “officially puts an end to the Fidesz-KDNP mafia”, in reference to the parties that governed Hungary between 2010 and 2026.

Sesztak, a former deputy of the KDNP, a satellite party of Fidesz, is accused of allegedly accepting bribes worth 12.6 billion forints (about 33 million euros) in a scheme related to the public transport company Volánbusz.

After taking office, Magyar announced investigations into corruption and abuse of power during the Orbán government and created the NVVH.

Since then, three former ministers have been arrested, including the former head of the Economy and former governor of the Central Bank Gyorgy Matolcsy, considered Orbán's right-hand man. Aron Orbán, the former prime minister's younger brother, has also been arrested in an alleged immigrant smuggling plot.

Four mandates

Víktor Orbán, for years Russia's main ally in the EU, governed Hungary for four consecutive terms and had serious friction with his community partners and with the European Commission for his anti-democratic drift.

However, last April he lost the election against Magyar's conservative Tisza party, which governs with a two-thirds majority and with the stated goal of restoring the rule of law in the country. Magyar has pledged to restore relations with the European Union, strained after years of disagreements under Orbán, and to launch a thorough investigation into corruption allegations.

The Fidesz party reacted to the discovery of the money in a Facebook post by initially stating that it hoped Sesztak was not connected to the cash. He later distanced himself from the former minister when the leader of his parliamentary group, Gergely Gulyas, urged Sesztak to resign his membership as an MP in a video statement.

"If what we have seen and heard in the last 24 hours is confirmed to be true, it is totally unacceptable. Our political community is not like that. That is not who we are; Fidesz is not like that, and it will not be as long as I am the leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group," Gulyas said.