Slovak Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok faces corruption probe over Dubai trip

Investigative journalists have linked the accounting of Advisoria, a private firm owned by interior minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok’s partner Anne Benejová, to ORQ Accounting. ORQ Accounting is connected through ORQ Financial Solutions and the Orquesta Group to oligarch Jozef Brhel and his family.

Benejová confirmed she paid roughly €12,500 in cash for two airline tickets to Dubai, a sum that appears in police records dated 13 December 2024, while the couple returned from the United Arab Emirates on 9 December. Police have repeatedly refused to reopen the case, prompting former NAKA director Ľubomír Daňko and the anti‑corruption foundation Zastavme korupciu to demand a new investigator, alleging that the cash payment signals possible laundering of illicit funds.

Daňko claims his organization possesses detailed information about who actually financed the trip, suggesting it was not the minister or his partner. The foundation has filed another complaint seeking a change of investigator and further scrutiny of the alleged financial links to Brhel’s network.