$19.5M cash buried in forests linked to ex-minister probe

Viktor Orban ruled Hungary as the Prime Minister for 16 years from 2010 to 2026 and was characterised by systemic corruption and crony capitalism. Evidence of the same has been appearing even after his term ended, with a long-awaited celebration in April this year.

On Friday, Hungary's anti-corruption agency announced that it had seized cash worth $19.5M buried in forests and hidden elsewhere while investigating an ex-minister from Orbán's cabinet, as per a report by The Guardian.Miklós Seszták, Hungary’s minister of national development between 2014 and 2018, is accused of taking bribes in a scheme involving the state transport company, purchasing secondhand buses at inflated prices.

Seszták, two other Orbán-era ministers and the former premier’s brother have been taken into custody in different cases as graft inquiries have gathered pace in recent weeks.The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH), an anti-graft body with sweeping powers established as part of present Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s accountability drive, said it searched the capital of Budapest and three Hungarian counties on Thursday and Friday as part of the criminal proceedings against Seszták.

The office holds investigative and prosecutorial powers to pursue cases of misused public funds and suspected corruption that Orbán’s critics say was rampant during his 16 years in office.“During the search, investigators found large amounts of cash: buried in forests, hidden in agricultural and warehouse buildings as well as residential properties, and stored in high-value safes in secluded locations,” the statement said.

“The total amount of cash found during the two-day search was 5,071,632,000 forints, €2,658,350 and US $1,257,100,” it added, bringing the combined value to $19.5M. NVVH added that its staff deposited the cash into the Hungarian State Treasury's account.

“Upon receipt, 12 Treasury employees spent 8 hours counting the money using 5 counting machines,” the finance minister, András Kármán, said on Facebook.A video posted to Facebook by the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office showed images of investigators kneeling next to extensive piles of bundled cash, as well as of shovels breaking ground in what appeared to be a forest at night.Sesztak has denied wrongdoing. According to Reuters, his lawyer Gabor Papp told the local news website Telex that the cash did not belong to Sesztak, a member of parliament's Economic and Energy Affairs Committee. He added that the bribery case also involved other suspects.Magyar hailed the seizure as a potential turning point. “This officially marks the end of the Fidesz-KDNP mafia!” he said in reference to Orbán’s former governing coalition.

The 45-year-old Tisza leader won a landslide election victory in April, ending Orbán's 16 years in power. He also promised to investigate alleged corruption and abuse of office during his rival's rule. The clampdown is part of an anti-graft drive the centre-right Magyar has dubbed "Operation Purgatory", considered "very important" by 70% of respondents in a survey by the Median pollster released on news website HVG this week.Orban, on the other hand, has not reacted to the latest development. Previously, he had denounced the probes targeting his inner circle, dubbing them "political persecution" aimed at imprisoning him. Fidesz Party reacted to the announcement in a Facebook post, saying that it hoped Sesztak was not connected to the cash. "Since the change of regime, every lawmaker in Hungary has sworn an oath to abide by and enforce the law.

Fidesz-KDNP (Christian Democrats) cannot associate itself with anyone who fails to do so. We trust that the images published by the NVVH (asset recovery office) have nothing to do with Miklos Sesztak," Fidesz wrote.Bence Retvari, parliamentary group leader of the Christian Democrats, said Sesztak, ⁠the party's vice chair, should relinquish his parliamentary mandate as he seeks to clear his name "This is an individual criminal case, and the criminal proceedings must be kept strictly separate from our political community," Retvari said on Facebook.