Fidesz MEP to turn to OLAF over left lawyer’s loan 

Fidesz MEP Tamás Deutsch said on Thursday that he will submit a complaint to the EU’s anti-fraud office (OLAF) concerning an alleged loan to a left-wing lawyer by a holding company run by opposition Democratic Coalition Party (DK) leader Ferenc Gyurcsány. 

Deutsch told a press conference that

Altus, the company in question, had provided 80 million forints in the form of a loan to the lawyer

and politician Zsolt Czeglédy out of a 1.5 billion forint (EUR 4.8m) contract Altus had concluded with the European Commission.

Czeglédy, who was local government representative of Szombathely, in western Hungary, representing Éljen Szombathely-Socialists-DK-Együtt, also worked as a lawyer for DK, the Socialist Party and Altus.

Czeglédy is currently in pre-trial detention, suspected of defrauding the budget of 3 billion forints. 

The ruling party MEP said he hoped OLAF would immediately launch a probe into the transaction on charges of a misuse of EU funds and other serious law violations.

The MEP noted that he had already raised objections against the deal between Altus and the European Commission a year and half ago.

He called it “unprecedented in Europe” that a company owned by a former prime minister who is still an active politician would conclude a contract “using 1.5 billion forints paid out of European taxpayers’ contributions”.

Deutsch also accused Gyurcsány of using proceeds from Altus’s revenues to finance his DK party.

Source: MTI