Hungarian billionaire sentenced to 20 years in prison

The Municipal Court on Friday sentenced Tamás Portik to 20 years imprisonment in connection with a murder attempt committed in 1996 and a murder in 1999.

According to the indictment, Portik had operated a gang of 15-20 people from the mid-1990s on, and in 1996 he had commissioned a man linked to crimes, György Tanyi to kill Csaba Lakatos, a jockey, who had informed on him in connection with an earlier murder case. At the horse-racing track in November 1996, Tanyi fired four shots at Lakatos, three of which hit the man, however, his life could be saved. Tanyi was handed an 11-year prison sentence in January 2018, however, Portik was only indicted in the case in August next year.

Photo: MTI

The court integrated the procedure with another one in connection with a murder committed in 1999, when Portik had commissioned Gábor K. and József Sz., members of his gang, to kill József Gyüre, a childhood friend. The two men murdered Gyüre in his apartment and threw the body in the River Danube.

The Municipal Court in a non-binding ruling on Friday handed Portik a prison term of 20 years for instigating murder, and Gábor K. a prison term of 14 years for premeditated murder. József Sz., who has cooperated with the authorities, is being prosecuted in a separate procedure. The prosecutor has appealed for life imprisonment for the defendants, while the defendants appealed for acquittal. Portik is currently serving a 13-year prison term for his role in the murder of former media mogul János Fenyő and other crimes.