Millions in Cash Found Buried in Forests and Hidden in Warehouses in Hungary

Hungarian authorities announced on Friday that they had found hidden cash worth roughly €17.4 million during an investigation into Miklós Seszták, a former national development minister who served in the government of previous Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The discovery is part of a wider series of corruption cases pursued since the change of government.

The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, recently set up by Hungary's new government and holding investigative and prosecutorial powers in cases of misuse of public funds and corruption, said large amounts of cash had been buried in forests, hidden in farm buildings, warehouses and residential properties, and kept in a safe in a concealed location. The money included more than five billion forints (€13.7 million), about €2.6 million and US$1.2 million (€1.1 million). The search lasted two days and covered Budapest and three Hungarian counties.

Bribery suspicion

Seszták is suspected of taking bribes worth more than €33.8 million in connection with car procurement for Hungary's state bus company and state construction projects. He has been in police custody since late September.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar said on Friday evening that 12 State Treasury employees spent eight hours counting the cash with five banknote-counting machines. He said the find officially marks the end of the 'mafia' of the Fidesz-KDNP coalition that governed under Orbán, and wrote on Facebook that Fidesz is a criminal organisation.

Other cases

On Monday, police detained Áron Orbán, the former prime minister's brother, on suspicion of human trafficking. On 21 October, Győző Matolcsy, former head of Hungary's National Bank, was detained in a corruption case. It centres on central bank foundations set up under his leadership and the management of their assets. Last year, Hungary's State Audit Office found that assets had effectively vanished from the foundations through a series of investments and real estate deals. Matolcsy was once a close ally of Orbán and was described as the chief architect of his economic policy, but their relations soured in recent years.

Viktor Orbán's right-wing populist Fidesz party lost April's parliamentary election to Magyar's centre-right Tisza party. Orbán has called the ongoing investigations and detentions political 'tyranny' aimed at pushing him out of politics.