Election 2018 – Fidesz refuses to attend parliament committee meeting on Kósa-gate scandal

Ruling Fidesz refused to attend a session of the national security committee on Tuesday convened by a Socialist lawmaker to investigate allegations that a minister had fallen for a financial scam.

The (Fidesz) deputy head of the committee, Szilárd Németh, cited security concerns posed by people associated with US financier George Soros as the reason for their boycott, and the meeting lacked a quorum.

Németh of the Fidesz party was asked to comment on Socialist committee head Zsolt Molnár’s call for a committee meeting to be convened on Tuesday in order to clarify press reports concerning suspect financial dealings by Lajos Kósa, the minister in charge of city developments.

Németh said the session had been called on the basis of “rumours and fake news” for election campaign purposes.

Referring to green opposition LMP representative Bernadett Szél and associated “national security risks”, he said that as long as “Soros’s people” were members of the committee, Fidesz would refuse to participate.

The operation of the “Soros network” is a growing national security problem in Hungary, he said. Németh said recent reports had suggested that representatives of the network had tried to convince foreign governments and German companies to boycott production in Hungary. This, he added, would threaten many Hungarian jobs.

Citing the press, Németh also insisted that the deputy head of Migration Aid had “admitted” that the NGO’s entire operation as a humanitarian organisation was a front for acquiring money and political power.

Molnár said they had wanted government members and the security services to provide information concerning reports that a private individual had commissioned Kósa to handle 1,300 billion forints (EUR 4.35bn) and he had suggested buying government bonds.

Opposition committee members waited for thirty minutes for the other members to show up. Since the meeting lacked a quorum, the representatives of the interior ministry and the security services refused to answer questions, saying they would only provide answers to written questions.

Molnár insisted the issue of Kósa’s alleged dealings was not a closed matter and he would attempt to call another meeting of the security committee before the April 8 parliamentary election.

According to press reports published last Tuesday, Kósa was entrusted with 4.35 billion euros by a private individual to buy government bonds. Citing a notarial deed, Magyar Nemzet said that the money was deposited into an FHB Bank account. The document dated Jan. 28, 2013 revealed that Kósa had signed a contract with the client to purchase government bonds and deposit them with the client’s investment account.

According to news portal Origo, a scam artist — whom the portal identified as Mrs. Gábor Szabó — had forged “at least thirty” documents similar to the one cited by Magyar Nemzet. Origo said the woman has a criminal record and the national police headquarters confirmed that she is currently under investigation for fraud.

Kósa has called the affair a “classic scam”. “I’ve never bought government securities for anyone and never accepted money from anyone,” Kósa said, asked to comment on the report at a recent news conference.

Featured image: MTI

Source: MTI