Hungary Probes Firms Linked to Orban Campaigns

Hungarian police have launched an investigation into companies owned by Gyula Balasy, one of the most prominent media figures of the Viktor Orban era. His firms, which prepared government campaigns for years, face allegations of embezzlement and money laundering.

The investigation began shortly after Balasy said he was ready to hand over his companies and some of his investments to the state if Peter Magyar’s new government takes office. He said, however, that he was not doing so because he had anything to hide or had acted unlawfully.

Police said they had opened a case against an unknown suspect based on information from a special unit of the tax authority. The investigation also covers companies in the events sector, which Balasy discussed in an interview with the Kontroll portal.

Investigators have frozen accounts and funds belonging to several companies. Police are also examining allegations of overpriced state contracts.

Balasy’s companies were behind Orban’s anti-immigration and anti-Ukraine campaigns and won hundreds of contracts from the National Communications Office. Transparency International put their value at about 295bn forints, or $858m, between 2019 and 2021 alone.

(reuters, bak)