Nearly $20m found in Hungary’s forests, buildings amid corruption probe

Hungarian investigators have found $19.5m in hidden cash, including bundles dug out in forests, during a corruption probe involving a former minister under ex-Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, a new agency set up to investigate suspected misuse of public money, said in a statement late on Friday that searches took place on November 12 and 13 in Budapest and three other parts of Hungary.

Its investigators found Hungarian forints, euros and US dollars in farm buildings, warehouses, a home and “a high-value safe in a secluded location”, as well as beneath the ground in forests. The agency released footage showing officers digging outdoors after dark and examining piles of cash, which was later deposited with the state treasury.

Finance Minister Andras Karman said on Facebook on Friday that 12 treasury employees spent eight hours counting it.

The discovery comes amid an investigation into Miklos Sesztak, Hungary’s development minister from 2014 to 2018, who is suspected of receiving more than $37.2m in bribes and kickbacks tied to overpriced secondhand bus purchases by a state transport company and government construction projects.

He was detained in September and denies wrongdoing.

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