– Please disclose your financial circumstances!
– I own a car and have 10–15 million forints derived from the sale of an apartment.
This exchange took place on 21 October at the Budapest Regional Court between Judge Gaszton Oláh and the key figure in the ministerial corruption case, Anita H. The 43-year-old grant writer is the only defendant in the fraud case involving 25 billion forints of grant money with whom the prosecutor’s office managed to strike a plea deal.
The reason why these words from the defendant are noteworthy is that 24.hu conducted numerous background discussions with individuals familiar with the corruption case, and based on the gathered information,
As we discovered, Anita H. is the
- joint owner with her husband of a luxury apartment in Marbella, southern Spain,
- as well as the sole owner of a seaside holiday home in Icici, Croatia, located near a hotel owned by Lőrinc Mészáros’ business interests.
- With her husband, she was also a joint owner of a luxury apartment in Dubai, UAE. (According to unconfirmed information, this property was sold after Anita H. was released from custody.)
- While currently she is technically a beneficiary through a fiduciary asset manager, a luxury apartment in Szeged is also in the joint ownership of Anita H. and her husband. (Under anti-money laundering laws, a beneficiary is also considered an owner).
- Through another fiduciary management arrangement, she and her mother are the joint beneficiaries of an apartment on Budapest’s Római-part.
The bribery scandal involving the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister’s Office erupted in April 2022, when 150 prosecutors and police officers conducted raids at dozens of locations, primarily targeting ministry officials. In February, the Central Chief Prosecution Office of Investigation (KNYF) charged 54 individuals. According to the charges, officials facilitated the awarding of primarily non-repayable EU grants in exchange for bribes.
The indictment, first reported on by 24.hu, states that the primary defendant, a consultant at the Ministry of Finance, established a well-organised corruption network. Through this network, the consultant maintained extensive connections with grant writers – including Anita H. – as well as project managers and company executives. By involving several colleagues, including senior government officials, the network ensured the success of grant applications, favourable inspections for companies, and positive outcomes for applications and appeals, all in exchange for millions of forints.
According to the prosecution, 108 grant applications funded by EU resources (primarily under the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Programme) and another eight funded domestically (submitted under the Healthcare Support Programme) were implicated in the case. The total value of support requested through these applications exceeded 25 billion forints. The court has already held several preliminary hearings, and several defendants, including two ministry department heads, have confessed to their crimes.
