Socialists file complaint against Orbán for nationalising private pension funds

The opposition Socialists have filed a complaint to the public prosecutor against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and others for his government’s act of nationalising private pension funds which affected the savings of 3 million people totalling 3,000 billion forints (EUR 9.7bn), Socialist lawmaker and head of parliament’s welfare committee Lajos Korózs said on Wednesday.

The report accuses Orbán and Gabriella Selmeczi, a former government commissioner in charge of pensions, as well as former economy minister and current central bank governor György Matolcsy of abuse of office, of breaching their obligation to perform public duties, as well as fraud and mismanagement, Korózs told a press conference.

Korózs noted that parliament had at the time of the pension transfers in 2010 approved a political statement — with ruling Fidesz’s majority support — on the need to protect the money drawn from private pension savings.

The statement set out to guarantee that past pension payments would be credited to individual private accounts, that their value would be preserved and that exemption from tax would be provided to those who transfer their money to the state pension system.

The Socialist said three million young people had been issued with what amounted to a threat when told by the government that anyone who fails to transfer their savings to the state pension system would be ineligible for a state pension. Accordingly, 2.9 million people transferred their savings and the state acquired some 3,000 billion forints, Korózs said.

Since then the ruling parties have wastefully spent the monies instead of implementing the guarantees to preserve them, he added.

Source: MTI