Nearly €20m in cash found buried, hidden in Hungary corruption case
Hungarian authorities investigating a former minister for corruption say they uncovered a trove of hidden cash.
Magyar authorities have recovered nearly €20 million in cash linked to a bribery investigation into former minister Miklós Seszták. The money was hidden in forests, warehouses, residential properties and a safe during searches conducted on Thursday and Friday. Seszták, who was under pre-trial detention, has denied any wrongdoing.
The cash - amounting to 5 billion forints (€2.6 million and €1.2 million) - was discovered in Budapest, Pest, Békés and Nógrád counties, according to the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, a Hungarian anti-corruption body. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar hailed the recovery, calling it an end to the "Fidesz-KDNP mafia" on his Facebook page.
Finance Minister Kármán András revealed that it took 12 Treasury staff eight hours to count the cash using five counting machines. The announcement follows Hungarian authorities' detention of Aron Orbán, the brother of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, as part of a separate investigation into people smuggling. Orbán's brother has accused the move of being part of a "political witch-hunt" to target him.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk acknowledged the discovery, praising Magyar's "creativity" in his post on X.
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