Hungary's asset-recovery office finds €17.7m cash in Seszták corruption case

Hungary's newly created National Office for Asset Recovery and Asset Protection (NVVH) found cash worth about €17.7 million during a corruption investigation into Miklós Seszták, development minister from 2014 to 2018. Forint, euro and dollar notes were partly buried in woodland; more were seized in farm buildings and warehouses, and in homes.

Finance Minister András Kármán was quoted as saying that after receiving it, twelve finance authority staff "counted the money for eight hours with five counting machines."

Seszták was arrested in September. He is suspected of accepting around €34 million in bribes and kickback payments, and denies the allegations.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar said the case marked the end of Fidesz as a political party, calling the Orbán party "nothing more than an organized criminal organization". His pro-European Tisza party won April's parliamentary election, ending Viktor Orbán's 16 years in power.

Magyar has pledged to work through alleged corruption from Orbán's time in office and to recover misappropriated public funds. The NVVH was created for that purpose and holds investigative and prosecutorial powers.

Three former ministers have been arrested since the election. This week investigators also detained Orbán's younger brother, Áron Orbán, who is accused of human trafficking and visa fraud.