Hungarian Prosecutors Raid Fidesz Data Center Over Embezzlement of $53.5M from Cultural Fund

Péter Magyar, Prime Minister of Hungary | Source: Robert Hegedus/MTI via AP/dpa

Hungarian investigators have searched data centers belonging to former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party. The party has described the action as a historically unprecedented event. The investigation centers on allegations of embezzlement from the National Cultural Fund.

Raid Details

Prosecutors and investigators from the Hungarian tax authority searched offices on Tuesday that house data servers of the Fidesz party.

"The prosecution office of the Bács-Kiskun administrative district is conducting an investigation in criminal proceedings opened in connection with the National Cultural Fund for the offense of embezzlement and other crimes," a spokeswoman for the investigative authority told AFP news agency on Tuesday. The Bács-Kiskun region is located in southern Hungary.

Fidesz announced on Facebook that searches were underway at the data center housing their servers. "Investigators from the prosecution office appeared unannounced at the data center, (...) with the intention of seizing the party's entire communication system and its databases." The party stated the event is unprecedented in Hungary's post-communist history since 1990.

Charges Filed

According to the AP news agency, charges have been filed against six current and former Fidesz officials. They are accused of misusing approximately 17 billion forints (about $53.5 million) from the fund. The accused deny the allegations.

The officials are accused of distributing the funds in an opaque manner to artists and cultural figures with ties to Fidesz. Some of those individuals actively campaigned for the party ahead of the parliamentary election in April.

A regional criminal directorate of the National Tax and Customs Administration supported the search on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Bács-Kiskun told AP. Further information cannot currently be disclosed "in the interest of the investigation."

Magyar's Anti-Corruption Campaign

Pro-European conservative Péter Magyar, with his Tisza party, won a two-thirds majority in parliament in Hungary's election on April 12, dealing a severe defeat to Fidesz. Orbán had led Fidesz and governed Hungary continuously since 2010.

Since taking office in May, Magyar has been taking action against what he calls Orbán's "mafia system." He dismissed numerous political officeholders, including the state president, as well as heads of institutions accused of enabling Orbán's authoritarian rule.

In his inaugural speech, the new prime minister denounced the corruption of the Orbán system, which he said had deprived Hungarians of "roads, hospitals, schools" over two decades. He announced the creation of an independent authority responsible for "uncovering the abuses committed" during the 16 consecutive years under Orbán and recovering the embezzled funds.

Magyar wrote on Facebook on Tuesday that he is awaiting further information from the prosecution office regarding the search.

AP/AFP/lfb