Hungarian prosecutors raid Orbán party’s data center in embezzlement probe

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Prosecutors and investigators with Hungary’s tax authority on Tuesday raided offices housing data servers used by former prime minister Viktor Orbán ‘s Fidesz party as part of a probe into suspected embezzlement and other crimes, a prosecutor’s office spokesperson told The Associated Press.

Fidesz accused the governing Tisza party, led by pro-European Prime Minister Péter Magyar, of seeking to use legal means to destroy it.

Marianna Bodó, a spokesperson for the Bács-Kiskun County chief prosecutor’s office, said in an email that the raid was part of an investigation into the suspected misuse of grant money through Hungary’s National Cultural Fund while Orbán’s government was in office. The county lies south of the capital, Budapest.

Six current and former officials have been charged in connection with the misuse of some 17 billion forints ($53.5 million) through the fund. They have denied wrongdoing.

The officials have been accused of distributing the money in an opaque manner to artists and performers linked to Fidesz. Some of them actively campaigned for the party leading up April’s national election.

A regional criminal directorate of the National Tax and Customs Administration assisted in Tuesday’s raid, Bodó wrote, adding that no further information could be provided “in the interests of the investigation.”

Fidesz said in a statement on Facebook that investigators had launched the raid “without prior notice” and “with the intention of seizing the party’s entire communications system and databases.”

“There has been no precedent for this in Hungary since the end of Communism in 1990!” Fidesz asserted.

Orbán and Fidesz governed Hungary for 16 years until their blowout election loss in April. While in office, they were routinely accused of overseeing unchecked corruption, seizing control of Hungary’s institutions and undermining democracy and the rule of law.

After taking office in May, Magyar has taken action to dismantle what he calls Orbán’s “mafia” by removing numerous political appointees — including the president — and heads of institutions viewed as having facilitated Orbán’s autocratic government.

Since their election defeat, Fidesz has accused Magyar and Tisza of “tyranny” in their steps to dismantle Orbán’s political and economic system. Tisza argues it is using its overwhelming electoral mandate to fulfill campaign promises.

Magyar wrote on Facebook on Tuesday that he was awaiting further information on the raid from prosecutors.