Hungarian prosecutors have detained two former ministers who served under Viktor Orban, in a case where investigators say more than 11 billion forints changed hands. Miklos Sesztak was taken into custody in Budapest on Monday, and Balazs Hanko followed a day later.
Sesztak, who headed the development ministry between 2014 and 2018, was detained at the headquarters of the Central Investigative Prosecutor’s Office (KNYF) in the Hungarian capital. His lawyer confirmed the arrest to the portal 24.hu. Earlier the same day, parliament lifted the immunity of the sitting MP, clearing the way for prosecutors to act.
– I cannot understand the charges against me – Sesztak told 24.hu before the detention.
According to the same portal, the former minister came to the prosecutor’s office on his own to give testimony. A statement published by prosecutors a week earlier said the proceedings against him concern the taking of bribes and other offences.
A ten percent cut on public contracts
Investigators believe Sesztak and the head of the Hungarian state asset management company (MNV) received more than 11 billion forints through a middleman. The alleged offences took place between 2015 and 2018.
As the prosecutors’ communiqué put it, a representative of an investment and construction group offered the former minister a share of the money from public tenders. The proposal was that, via third parties, he would be paid 10 percent of the contractor’s fee set out in each contract once a given investment had been completed. In return, the group expected to land orders. Between 2015 and 2018 it secured several priority public contracts, 24.hu reported.
Cultural money and the 2026 campaign
Hanko, who held the culture and innovation portfolio in Orban’s cabinet, was detained on Tuesday. The state news agency MTI reported that the suspicion against him is abuse of trust, in an investigation into how the National Cultural Fund (NKA) spent its money while he was in charge of it.
Prosecutors say a team for priority cultural programmes operating inside the fund handed out public money as ad hoc, individual grants, a mechanism launched in July 2025, with no genuine vetting of the applications. The money, in their account, went towards financing the campaign ahead of the 2026 parliamentary elections and to private purposes of the applicants.
The prosecutors concluded that the scheme meant the funds were used in a way that contradicted their statutory purpose.
Both detentions form part of „Operation Purgatory”, announced by the government of Peter Magyar. The programme is presented as part of the anti-corruption and institutional reforms of Hungary’s new authorities.
Źródło: Polsat News, Fot. Polsat News
