Hungary's anti-corruption agency said on Friday it had seized cash worth $19.5m (£14.8m) buried in forests and hidden elsewhere while investigating an ex-minister of nationalist former leader Viktor Orbán.
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.
Investigation details and seizure
The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH), an anti-graft body with sweeping powers established as part of Prime Minister Péter Magyar's accountability drive, said it searched multiple locations on Thursday and Friday as part of the criminal proceedings against Seszták.
"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.
Political context and reaction
NVVH said 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," finance minister András Kármán said on Facebook.
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 former leader did not react to the latest development. Orbán had previously denounced the probes targeting his inner circle as "political persecution" aimed at imprisoning him.
