Altus Portfolio head protests National Bank of Hungary’s fine

Klára Dobrev, the managing director of Altus Portfolio, protested a fine imposed on the company by the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) in a statement sent to MTI on Tuesday.

Dobrev, the wife of former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, who owns Altus Portfolio, said the fine was politically motivated and that the central bank was not independent.

On Monday, the central bank said it fined Altus Portfolio 15 million forints (EUR 46,000) for lending without a licence.

In a probe covering a period of two years, the NBH discovered Altus Portfolio had lent almost 400 million forints to both retail and corporate borrowers in most cases with interest.

“[NBH governor György] Matolcsy thinks it’s a crime to lend one’s own money to some relatives going through a rough patch, to close friends and to the Democratic Coalition, which is opposed to [Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán. On the other hand, it is an act of patriotism to save public funds in foundations and use the money to buy furniture and rugs at exorbitant prices, provide relatives with credit and deprive the borrowers of foreign currency loans,” Dobrev said.

Featured image: www.facebook.com/GyurcsányFerenc

Source: MTI

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