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Hungary's long reckoning with alleged graft is shifting from accusations to prosecutions, the country's anti-corruption watchdog has told Politico. Senior figures from Viktor Orbán's former government could face charges over EU money the authority believes was systematically misused. Those words arrive as Orbán's successor works to rebuild trust with Brussels and reclaim funds frozen for years.

Senior officials in the crosshairs

Ferenc Pál Biró, who heads the Hungarian Integrity Authority, said top politicians "can and may well be prosecuted." He described it as an alleged effort to bilk EU taxpayers over the course of Orbán's 16 years in power. His team had flagged several criminal cases, he said. Biró wants Hungary to recover the money and have it repatriated, since most has already left the country. He stopped short of naming Orbán or anyone in his inner circle. 

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The alleged procurement scheme

The watchdog claims that three companies won most government contracts at artificially inflated prices. The key figures he laid out:

• Roughly €10 billion paid to just three firms in four years
• About €3.5 billion, the watchdog treats as overpricing tied to corruption risk
• Everyday goods and services billed at multiples of their market value

Biró said tenders were manipulated and that the Hungarian state "became the largest entity on the market."

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The watchdog Orbán was made to create

Brussels required the Integrity Authority in 2022 as a condition for releasing frozen money. It monitors how EU funds are spent and sits independently of the government. The body should help unwind patronage empires built under Orbán, spanning construction, utilities, and media. Biró has led it since it launched. Hungary has had billions frozen over corruption and rule-of-law concerns. Orbán himself now faces corruption investigations under the new government.

Bribes and intimidation

Biró said the previous government targeted him while he investigated the scheme. He described attempts at bribery and politically motivated pressure. His wife was offered a job with high pay and no work, he said, though he would not say by whom. He was also held over an accusation of misusing his company car. 

Fatture gonfiate per 3,5 miliardi di euro di fondi dell’Unione europea, parte dei quali sarebbero finiti ad alti funzionari del governo dell’ex primo ministro ungherese Viktor Orbán, che ora rischiano di finire sotto indagine. “I politici di alto livello possono e potrebbero essere perseguiti”, ha dichiarato Ferenc Pál Biró, presidente dell’Autorità ungherese per l’integrità, equivalente all’Autorità nazionale anti-corruzione (Anac) in un’intervista rilasciata a Politico. Biró, che era stato nominato a capo dell’Authority dallo stesso Orbán, ha parlato di un presunto sistema di frode che ha operato nei 16 anni dell’esecutivo precedente.

Il capo dell’organismo anti-corruzione, istituito nel 2022 su pressione di Bruxelles che ha posto la sua creazione come condizione necessaria all’erogazione dei fondi, ha spiegato che il suo team ha individuato numerosi casi criminali legati ad appalti pubblici manipolati. “La sovrafatturazione, che riteniamo soggetta a rischio di corruzione ammonterebbe a 3,5 miliardi di euro“, ha spiegato Biró. “Dovremmo essere in grado di recuperare quei fondi e farli rimpatriare – ha aggiunto – perché la maggior parte ha già lasciato il Paese”. Secondo l’Autorità, tre aziende si sono aggiudicate la maggior parte degli appalti governativi per la fornitura di beni e servizi, con importi gonfiati artificialmente. Sotto il precedente governo, lo Stato ungherese, ha sottolineato, “è diventato il più grande attore sul mercato”.

Biró, che ha denunciato di aver subito in passato minacce, tentativi di corruzione indiretta e arresti intimidatori, ha concluso affermando che la lotta alla corruzione è il mandato chiave del nuovo governo: “Bisogna fare giustizia – ha dichiarato – e le persone devono riottenere ciò che è stato loro rubato”.

L'articolo “Truffa da 3,5 miliardi sui fondi Ue”: l’Anticorruzione ungherese mette nel mirino l’ex governo Orbán proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.