Hungary sent commandos to seize Ukraine’s $82 million bank convoy. Its investigators now say they have found no crime
Hungarian investigators found the seized cash and gold came from a lawful bank deal. Attention has now turned to officials behind the raid.
Hungary has ended its investigation into the $82 million cash and gold shipment from Ukraine's state bank, reporting no evidence of wrongdoing, according to The Insider on 20 August 2026. The case, which justified the seizure of Oschadbank's assets, has now been closed, removing the justification for the operation. A separate investigation remains active, examining the detention of the couriers, while Prime Minister Péter Magyar's government has initiated an internal review of the agencies involved.
Hungary's National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) traced the assets to a documented deal between Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International and Oschadbank, providing supporting evidence. Meanwhile, former Counter-Terrorism Center head János Hajdu, as well as former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and two other officials, are under investigation for their roles in the operation.
Orbán has denied any wrongdoing, claiming the raid was lawful. The case began on 5 March 2026 when TEK stopped two armored vans near Budapest, detaining seven Oschadbank employees for 28 hours without legal representation or access to Ukrainian consular assistance. The couriers were deported and later had their Schengen bans revoked.
Despite the end of the investigation, Orbán's government initially portrayed the shipment as potential money laundering and implicated Magyar's opposition party. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed the return of the assets, viewing it as a step towards improved relations with Hungary founded on mutual respect and pragmatism.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
