Election 2018 – Jobbik cites report alleging large-scale money laundering

An official of Hungary’s people’s populist Jobbik party has accused the government of large-scale corruption, citing reports that a Hungarian man was in a United States witness protection programme, accused of laundering money linked to the Hungarian government.

György Szilágyi told a press conference on Monday that it had now become clear why Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was linked to “Arab money launderer” Ghaith Pharaon, a Saudi businessman who was wanted by the US authorities under an Interpol arrest warrant. Pharaon died in January 2017. According to reports, the Saudi was a resident of Budapest in 2016.

The Jobbik politician cited a report that the US authorities had caught a courier with a diplomatic passport who had handled millions of dollars. It later turned out that tax authority head Ildikó Vida had known about the money.

“Reports that the US was planning to place a travel ban on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and many other members of the government now make sense, too,” he said.

The witness protection programme that the man in question is participating in may be the reason for the ban, he added.