Hungarian government investigations into public fund misuse

Hungarian government ministries have initiated multiple legal reports regarding the suspected misuse of public funds and financial misconduct.

In mid-September, the Ministry of Science and Technology filed reports against Lounge Event Kft. and p2m Consulting Kft. concerning irregularities involving over 3 billion forints. Ministry head Zoltán Tanács identified patterns of suspicious operations, such as single-bidder procedures and centralized procurement. Specifically, p2m Consulting Kft. reportedly secured a 30 billion forint framework contract following a very short tender period, despite having significantly lower annual revenue in previous years.

By late September, further reports were filed by other government officials. The Minister of Rural and Settlement Development reported suspected budgetary fraud and abuse of office involving a 1.8 billion forint subsidy granted to Veszprém-Balaton 2023 Zrt., noting that a state secretary served as the beneficiary company’s CEO at the time. Additionally, the Minister of Transport and Investments filed a report regarding suspected insolvency crimes at Dunakeszi Járműjavító, following significant dividend payments made to owners prior to the company’s insolvency.