Viktor Orbán’s secret adviser takes over Budapest casinos

After quite some time spent away from spotlight, Árpád Habony, PM Viktor Orbán’s secret adviser reappeared on the scene. Not just any way: as an investor. He has officially taken over a third of the Las Vegas Casino group. The group will operate five gambling dens in the capital and the vegas.hu/vipcasino.hu online platforms until 2056.

Who is Árpád Habony?

Árpád Habony at the Larus Event Centre in Budapest on 30 May 2013. Source: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák

Árpád Habony is a Hungarian entrepreneur, political advisor and Viktor Orbán’s personal chief strategic advisor – albeit, in principle, secretly. After being involved in a number of controversial cases in the 2010s, the ruling party Fidesz denied that there was any official link between the party and Habony. Orbán also denied knowing him personally, K-Monitor Adatbázis reports.

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On the contrary, some Fidesz politicians or former Budapest Mayor István Tarlós did not deny that they had consulted him or asked for his advice. In the latter case, he mediated between Orbán and Tarlós (despite Orbán’s claim that he did not know Habony personally), and the mayor later admitted that Habony regularly gave him advice.

He is returning as an investor

Válasz Online has noticed that Árpád Habony has become the owner of one third of Garinvest Plc – 32.94 percent to be precise. The Las Vegas Casino Group, which operates five gambling dens in the capital and two online casinos, belongs to this company. According to Válasz Online, this indicates that Árpád Habony, who has not been in the public eye much in recent years, will return in 2023 – this time as an investor.

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According to Válasz Online, Árpád Habony has recently been spotted with two new investment companies. Futurum Investments Plc., a joint-stock company, was founded with HUF 150 million (EUR 376,293) of registered capital. ENTER-TNMNT Invest opened with HUF 100 million (EUR 250,825). This suggests that Árpád Habony will emerge as a serious economic player in the near future, Index writes. Of the two companies mentioned, Árpád Habony has now acquired ownership in the casinos through ENTER-TNMNT Invest Zrt.

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Source: adatbazis.k-monitor.hu, valaszonline.hu, index.hu