A court has ordered the arrest of billionaire businessman Dániel Jellinek and former Hungarian state asset management chief Norbert Szivek in connection with the Volánbusz corruption investigation. Both men are suspected of accepting bribes and other corruption-related offences.
Court orders one-month detention
The Buda Central District Court ordered the arrest of Jellinek and Szivek for one month on Thursday, following a motion by the Central Chief Prosecutor’s Office, the Budapest Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson told Hungarian News Agency MTI. The decision is not final, as the defence lawyers for both men have appealed.
The Central Chief Prosecutor’s Office is investigating alleged bribery and other corruption offences linked to Volánbusz, Hungary’s state-owned bus operator. We’ve written in detail about the case here.
Jellinek, chief executive of Indotek Group, and Szivek, the former CEO of the Hungarian National Asset Management Company (MNV), were taken into custody on Tuesday and subsequently detained.
The prosecutor’s office has now questioned five people as suspects in the case and sought the detention of three of them. According to prosecutors, the alleged offences attributed to Jellinek, Szivek and a third suspect carry a possible combined prison sentence of between five and 15 years under Hungarian sentencing rules.
Investigation centres on alleged billions in losses
The investigation concerns alleged corruption linked to passenger transport services and the purchase of buses by Volánbusz.
According to investigators, state-owned Volán companies may have suffered losses of around HUF 10 billion between 2015 and 2018 as a result of allegedly overpriced purchases of more than 600 used buses and other disputed transactions. Authorities are also examining whether money allegedly obtained through corruption was subsequently laundered or moved through company and property transactions.
The National Bureau of Investigation announced on 10 September that eight former company executives had been questioned as suspects in connection with the alleged overpricing of Volán buses. The suspects included the former head of MNV, whom the authorities did not name at the time but who was subsequently identified as Szivek.
The Central Chief Prosecutor’s Office later took over a separate investigation in May, according to 24.hu, and the case has since accelerated.
Prosecutors cite risk of flight and interference
The prosecution says there are grounds to suspect a risk of flight because of the seriousness of the alleged offences and the sums involved. According to the prosecutor’s office, the alleged unlawful payments amounted to hundreds of millions of forints and, in the case of two suspects, billions of forints.
Prosecutors also cited concerns that suspects could interfere with the gathering of evidence, while they said there was a risk of reoffending in one case. The court’s decision concerns pre-trial detention and does not establish the men’s guilt.
Indotek rejects allegations against Jellinek
Following the court’s decision, Indotek Group said it considered the detention measure against its CEO disproportionate.
The company said Jellinek had remained available to the authorities throughout the proceedings and had fully cooperated with investigators. Indotek also stated that, in its view, Jellinek had committed no crime and expressed confidence that the ongoing investigation would clarify the situation.
The company added that the court’s decision would not affect Indotek Group’s operations and that the investigation did not concern any of its companies or assets.
Jellinek is one of Hungary’s wealthiest businessmen. Forbes estimated his fortune at HUF 313 billion (EUR 0.86 billion) in its latest ranking, placing him seventh among Hungary’s richest people.
