BUDAPEST — Hungary has opened an internal investigation targeting its tax authority, counter-terrorism units, and other government agencies following the controversial detention of a Ukrainian bank’s routine cash transport earlier this year.
The incident occurred in March, when seven Ukrainian nationals transporting $82 million in cash and gold aboard two armored vehicles were briefly taken into custody on suspicion of money laundering. The detention took place while the government of Viktor Orban — a Russian ally who has since been removed from power — was in a bitter dispute with Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Oschadbank stated that the employees involved were conducting a standard operation, the same type of transfer the bank had been performing on a weekly basis since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began.
Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who won April’s election by a wide margin, took to Facebook on Wednesday to demand action. He wrote that the prosecutor general “must address the matter without delay.”
During his time in office, Orban had made skepticism toward supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia a cornerstone of his political platform. He blocked new European Union sanctions against Moscow and opposed a financial loan intended for Kyiv.
Before Magyar was officially sworn into office, Hungary returned the seized cash and gold to Ukraine.
