Hungarian police have launched criminal investigations into four cases involving the state owned Eximbank on suspicion of abuse of office and mismanagement.

This is part of a series of measures taken by the new cabinet of Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who, following the April elections, ended Viktor Orbán’s 16 year rule and pledged to combat corruption in the previous administration.

The investigation follows complaints filed in July by the Ministry of Economy and Energy based on an audit of the bank. On Monday, police seized thousands of pages of internal documents.

Among the cases under scrutiny is a €1bn ($1.2bn) loan to North Macedonia with a reduced interest rate and a state guarantee. According to Magyar, this loan may have diverted funds intended for Hungarian companies to benefit a foreign political ally and affiliated firms.

Another case involves an African infrastructure project for which Eximbank and the Hungarian Development Bank provided guarantees totaling approximately 126bn forints ($398m).

The bank has not yet responded to requests for comment, and Orbán has denied the allegations in the past.

(Reuters, max)