Hungary recovers $19.5m cash in Orbán-era minister probe

Hungarian authorities have recovered about $19.5m in cash hidden in forests, farm buildings, warehouses and a safe, as part of a corruption investigation into Miklós Seszták, a former national development minister under Viktor Orbán. The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH) said the cash was found during a two-day search and amounted to 5,071,632,000 forints, €2,658,350 and $1,257,100, which it valued at $19.5m. The money was paid into the Hungarian State Treasury on Friday.

Seszták served as national development minister for four years of Orbán's 16-year rule. He has denied wrongdoing. The NVVH said he was accused of accepting bribes in a scheme involving the state transport company. Euronews reported that investigators believe Seszták and the chief executive of Hungarian National Asset Management (MNV) received more than 11 billion forints in illicit payments between 2015 and 2018 from representatives of companies contracted by Volánbusz, the national bus operator. It said the searches on 12 and 13 November covered Budapest and Pest, Békés and Nógrád counties.

The NVVH was set up to examine corruption allegations from the Orbán years, a drive Prime Minister Péter Magyar calls "Operation Purgatory". Magyar defeated Orbán in April on a promise to launch an anti-corruption campaign. On Friday he described the cash discovery as the end of the "mafia", the BBC reported.

Seszták's detention was ordered by the Buda Central District Court on 30 September at the NVVH's request and extended in late October until 30 January, Euronews reported. The court cited the seriousness of the case and the risk that he might flee or go into hiding. An earlier October search at his home in Kisvárda found safes of a type more commonly used by financial service providers and pawnshops, according to Euronews.

The case is one of several involving former Orbán officials. Seszták, another former minister and former central bank chief György Matolcsy have been under arrest since September over graft accusations in separate investigations. All deny wrongdoing. On Monday, Hungarian authorities detained Orbán's brother and three other people in a people-smuggling case. Orbán dismissed the case as political revenge. "In this dirty game, the aim is the elimination of the political opponent and the establishment of a one-party system," the BBC quoted him as saying. "I am the target, my younger brother is just a tool."