Hungarian government office bribery probe detains senior official and charges entrepreneur

The Debrecen Regional Prosecutor’s Office, acting on a tip from the National Defence Service, has launched a criminal investigation into a corruption scheme involving a senior civil servant in a government office and a businessman from Szabolcs‑Szatmar‑Bereg county.

According to the prosecutors, the entrepreneur applied for almost one billion forints in state subsidies and, through an intermediary, agreed to return 3 percent of the awarded sum. He transferred 12.6 million forints to the intermediary, of which 5 million reached the official. When the businessman filed a second request for 440 million forints, he offered another 6 million, which the official collected on 3 July. The Counter‑Terrorism Centre (TEK) arrested the official on 6 July; his detention was confirmed by the court on 14 July. The entrepreneur and the intermediary have been questioned as suspects and remain free.