Former Jobbik MEP suspected of cheating with EP expense reimbursement

The Central Chief Prosecutor has questioned Csanád Szegedi, former MEP of Jobbik, on suspicion that he had cheated with his expense reimbursement from the European Parliament and violated rules of employing assistants between 2009 and 2014.

In a statement, the Prosecutor’s Office said that the investigation had been launched at the recommendations of the EU’s anti-fraud office (OLAF). Szegedi is believed to have repeatedly used false documents to show that his delegations had travelled by car, rather than by air at significantly lower cost, in order to receive a higher amount of reimbursement. He has also been suspected of employing assistants in a fictitious way, and of having reclaimed the cost of publications which had not been produced. It is also suspected that Szegedi demanded kick-backs from the salaries of two assistants he had actually employed.

As Wikipedia said:

On 28 July 2012, Szegedi released a statement to the press, which was reproduced on the party’s website[22] that he had with immediate effect resigned from all the various positions still held in Jobbik. Szegedi expressed his wish to remain a Member of the European Parliament. The Jobbik statement confirmed that the news of his mother’s Jewish ancestry “did not pose any threat to his positions in the party.” The statement went on to say that “Last week, in July, media reported that the MEP [Szegedi] had known about his origin for longer than he previously stated.

Allegedly, in 2010, the MEP tried to stop news published about his origin by offering money [bribe], which the MEP categorically denies. This prompted Jobbik vice-president Előd Novák to call for Szegedi’s full resignation, describing the MEP’s actions as a ‘spiral of lies’.” Jobbik says its issue is the suspected bribery, not his Jewish roots.

According to the Prosecutor, Szegedi has caused a total 143 million forints (EUR 458,000) damage to the EP.

Four other people are suspected of having been accomplices in the case.

Szegedi refused to make a testimony and filed a complaint against the accusation.

Source: mti