Steven N.
Interior Minister Sándor Pintér has acknowledged that fraud, bribery, abuse of office, and misappropriation are being investigated in the City Hall affair.
Dialogue MP Olivio Kocsis-Cake inquired at the ministry after investigators had conducted a search of the Budapest City Council building and at the capital’s asset management company in mid-December as part of the investigation.
In a written reply, Minister Pintér told the opposition politician that “the Police are carrying out their work in full compliance with the relevant legislation and will be obliged to take action if charges are filed.”
Pintér revealed that a total of fourteen complaints had been received in connection with the so-called City Hall affair. He expressed suspicions of fraud, profiteering through influence, bribery, acceptance of bribes, abuse of office, and misappropriation, from which four criminal proceedings are now pending.
However, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony and prime ministerial candidate for the united opposition Péter Márki-Zay feel the entire investigation is a sham.
The police occupied City Hall in the course of an investigation based on fabricated false evidence, with the aim of diverting attention away from issues uncomfortable for the government.
-stated the opposition politicians. What the police should be investigating, they said, is the area around Viktor Orbán.
[HVG]
