Hungarian authorities find $20 million during probe of former minister

Hungarian authorities have discovered almost $20m (£14.8m) in cash concealed in farm outbuildings and buried in forests as part of a probe into former minister Miklós Seszták, officials said on Friday. The cash was located after a two‑day search of remote sites across the country. Seszták served as minister of national development for four years during Viktor Orbán’s 16‑year tenure and is accused of taking bribes linked to the state transport company, which he denies. Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who defeated Orbán in April, described the find as the end of the "mafia".

The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH) reported that the money was stored in safes, buried in woodlands and hidden in agricultural, residential buildings and warehouses. The total sum amounted to 5,071,632,000 forints, €2,658,350 and $1,257,100, a combined value of $19.5m, and has been transferred to the Hungarian State Treasury. The NVVH was set up to investigate alleged corruption from the Orbán era, an operation the new government has labelled "Operation Purgatory". Orbán’s rule has long been criticised by the EU as an "electoral autocracy".