Hungarian Investigators Seize Nearly $20m in Cash in Probe of Former Orbán Minister

Hungarian authorities say they have recovered close to $20m (£14.8m) in cash concealed in farm buildings and buried in forests as part of a corruption investigation into a former minister who served under Viktor Orbán.

Miklós Seszták, who spent four years as minister of national development during Orbán's 16 years in power, is accused of taking bribes connected to a scheme involving the state transport company. He denies any wrongdoing.

Orbán was removed from office in April, when Péter Magyar won a landslide election victory on a pledge to carry out a far-reaching anti-corruption campaign.

Speaking on Friday after a two-day search that uncovered the money at secluded sites around the country, Magyar said the discovery marked the end of the "mafia".

In a statement, the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH) said investigators found bundles of banknotes stored in safes, buried in woodland and hidden inside agricultural and residential buildings as well as warehouses.

The recovered sums came to "5,071,632,000 forints, €2,658,350 and $1,257,100", the office said, a combined value of $19.5m. The money has been deposited into the Hungarian State Treasury.

The NVVH was created to examine corruption allegations dating from the Orbán era, an effort Magyar has called "Operation Purgatory". The new prime minister promised voters "regime change" during this year's election and has moved to reverse a number of Orbán-era policies since taking office.

Orbán has long faced allegations of corruption and cronyism, and the EU described the Hungary he governed as an "electoral autocracy". His government was accused of steering profitable state projects to allies, claims he has strongly denied.

Seszták is one of two former ministers who, along with former central bank chief György Matolcsy, have been under arrest since September over graft accusations in separate investigations. All of them deny wrongdoing. On Monday, authorities also detained Orbán's brother and three other people in a people-smuggling case.

The former prime minister rejected the moves as political retaliation. "In this dirty game, the aim is the elimination of the political opponent and the establishment of a one-party system," he said. "I am the target, my younger brother is just a tool."