Orban's ex-minister: Buried in the forest: Investigators in Hungary find millions of euros

Hungarian investigators discovered cash worth 17.7 million euros in holes in the ground, warehouses and safes. The trail leads to a former minister - and puts Orban's party under pressure.

Investigators find hidden millions - suspicion falls on an ex-minister from Viktor Orban's government. (Archive image) Photo: Zoltan Mathe/MTI/AP/dpa

Budapest. Investigators from the Hungarian anti-corruption agency NVVH have found cash worth 17.7 million euros in holes in the ground, warehouses and safes in several parts of the country. The bundles of money were discovered during investigations against the opposition MP and former development minister Miklos Sesztak, the authority told the MTI news agency.

Sesztak (58) was considered the most important loyalist of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in northeastern Hungary, who was voted out in April. He was arrested in September on suspicion of corruption. Together with other defendants, he is said to have damaged the state-owned bus company Volan by tens of millions of euros during procurement during his time as minister (2014-2018).

The authority also published a video that showed the officers seizing the allegedly illegally acquired financial assets. According to the information, it was found in Budapest and the surrounding area as well as in the north and southeast of the country. You can see bundles and packages of euro, dollar and forint notes.

Investigations also into Orban's family

Since Prime Minister Peter Magyar came to power, whose bourgeois Tisza party clearly defeated Orban's Fidesz party, there have been several spectacular investigations and arrests in suspected cases of serious corruption. Last Wednesday, Orban's younger brother Aron was placed in pre-trial detention - the criminal authorities accuse him of human trafficking and abuse of his political influence.

Orban and the Fidesz leadership describe prominent pre-trial prisoners such as Sesztak, the former culture minister Balazs Hanko and Aron Orban as “victims” of arbitrary political justice. Most recently, intercession was prayed for in a church in Budapest. It is said from this camp that Magyar wants to wipe out the opposition and establish a dictatorship.

Fidesz faction leader calls on Sesztak to resign

The images of the buried millions also shocked many Fidesz supporters. Fidesz parliamentary group leader Janos Boka called on Sesztak on Saturday to resign from his parliamentary mandate. In Hungary - similar to Germany - the imposition of pre-trial detention on a member of parliament does not automatically lead to the loss of his or her mandate.

Orban commented on the million-dollar find attributed to Sesztak on Saturday. “Our political community is not like that, we are not like that, Fidesz is not like that,” he wrote on his Facebook page. His party's popularity is in free fall. While Fidesz had 39 percent of voters behind it in the April election, according to a recent survey the party is currently at 20 percent.