Hungarian police launches investigation into pro -Orban elite transfering their wealth out of the country

Orban-linked oligarchs are carrying their wealth out of Hungary

Private jets allegedly carrying assets linked to the pro-Orbán elite have been steadily leaving Vienna, while others are said to be moving quickly to transfer their wealth abroad, according to The Guardian. Hungary’s prime minister- elect, Péter Magyar, wrote on X that “Orbán-linked oligarchs are transferring tens of billions of forints to the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Uruguay and other distant countries”. He added that Hungary’s tax authorities had suspended several high-value transfers connected to Antal Rogán’s circle on suspicion of money laundering. Magyar also said that the family of Lőrinc Mészáros, Hungary’s richest man, a former gas-fitter and a childhood friend of Viktor Orbán, was expected to travel to Dubai in the coming days.

Two sources inside Orbán's Fidesz party told the Guardian that members of Orbán’s inner circle were moving assets to Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, while others were considering relocating funds to Australia and Singapore. The Guardian also reported that senior figures linked to Fidesz were applying for US work visas.

The Hungarian police are investigating the asset-transfer case on suspicion of embezzlement causing particularly significant financial loss, they wrote on a social media post on Tuesday. In the statement, they emphasized that they are investigating “alleged” asset stripping, meaning activities aimed at concealing unlawfully obtained money and other assets from the authorities through financial or other transactions.

Local Fidesz leader was arrested at the airport

A former regional leader of Orbán’s right-wing Fidesz party has been detained at Budapest airport in connection with a fraud case, according to reports. Rádi Feríz, who previously led the party in Szeged, Hungary’s third-largest city, resigned from his position last week after the National Tax and Customs Office issued an arrest warrant against him. He was arrested on Friday at Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc international airport upon returning from a trip to Egypt.

Feríz is suspected of budget fraud, according to the broadcaster RTL Klub. The politician, who joined Fidesz from the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) three years ago, has a background in agribusiness and runs a successful plant-breeding company with his family.

Orban steps down from Parliament, won't take his seat

Hungary’s outgoing prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said he will not take up his parliamentary seat after his party suffered a landslide defeat. “I am now needed not in parliament, but in the reorganisation of the patriotic movement,” he said in a video statement published on social media on Saturday evening. Although his nationalist Fidesz party's seats fell from 135 to 52 in the 12 April election, Orbán had been re-elected as an MP via its proportional representation list.

After a meeting of party officials, Orbán, said Fidesz’s parliamentary group would be led from Monday by Gergely Gulyás, who has served as the minister in charge of the prime minister’s office. “The mandate I obtained as the lead candidate of the Fidesz-KDNP list is, in fact, a parliamentary mandate of Fidesz. For this reason, I have decided to return it,” he said.