Hungarian Officials Recover $19.5 Million in Hidden Cash in Probe of Former Orbán Minister

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungarian authorities announced Friday the recovery of approximately $19.5 million in concealed cash, including sums buried underground, as part of an investigation into a former minister who served under ex-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office said it uncovered “large quantities of cash buried in forests, hidden in agricultural buildings, warehouses, and a residential property, and stored in a high-value safe at a concealed location,” according to a statement issued Friday.

The recovered funds included more than 5 billion forints, roughly 2.6 million euros, and $1.2 million—totaling around $19.5 million.

The discovery followed a two-day search across Budapest and three Hungarian counties, the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office said. The office was recently established by Hungary’s current government.

The agency possesses investigative and prosecutorial authority to pursue cases involving misused public funds and alleged corruption, which critics say was widespread during Orbán’s 16 years in power.

The seizure is part of criminal proceedings against former National Development Minister Miklós Seszták, who served under Orbán. He is suspected of accepting more than $37.2 million in bribes and kickbacks tied to vehicle procurements through Hungary’s state bus company and state construction projects.

Seszták was taken into police custody in late September.

A video shared on Facebook by the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office showed investigators kneeling beside large piles of bundled cash, as well as shovels breaking ground in what appeared to be a forest at night.

On Friday evening, Prime Minister Péter Magyar—who has pledged to hold officials accountable for suspected corruption under Orbán’s rule and recover misused public assets—said 12 employees of the Hungarian State Treasury spent eight hours counting the recovered cash using five money-counting machines.

He said the discovery “officially marks the end of the Fidesz-KDNP mafia,” referring to Orbán’s former ruling coalition.

“As of today, Viktor Orbán is a proven mafia boss. A fallen mafia boss. And Fidesz is a criminal organization,” Magyar wrote on Facebook.

The find is the latest step in the government’s campaign to crack down on suspected abuses committed during Orbán’s tenure. On Monday, police detained Orbán’s younger brother as part of an investigation into suspected human trafficking and influence peddling.

Several other Orbán-era officials, including the former governor of the Central Bank, remain in police custody on suspicion of fraud and corruption.

Last month, the Central Investigative Prosecutor’s Office said the detention of bank governor György Matolcsy was linked to alleged misuse of a central bank foundation endowed with 288 billion forints ($817.8 million) in public assets.

Orbán, whose far-right Fidesz party lost to Magyar’s center-right, pro-European Tisza party in a landslide April election, has denounced the investigations and detentions as political “tyranny” intended to remove him from the political arena.

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