Influence peddling: Hungarian Prosecutor General requests suspension of immunity of opposition MP

The Prosecutor General has initiated the suspension of the immunity of Zsolt Molnár, Member of Parliament of opposition MSZP for the crime of influence peddling, according to a press release of the Prosecutor General’s Office. MSZP (Magyar Szocialista Párt, Hungarian Socialist Party) is a centre-left social democratic party in Hungary, the governing party of Hungary between 2002 and 2010. It has been in opposition since 2010.

Former minister Ferenc Baja and his corrupt agreement

Ferenc Baja on 19 May, 2014. MTI/Rosta Tibor

According to information from the prosecutor’s office, the Budapest Transport Company (Budapesti Közlekedési Vállalat, BKV) launched a public procurement procedure for the IT operation of its sites at the beginning of 2019. An ltd. submitted a bid for the public procurement procedure, 24.hu reports.

Ferenc Baja, former minister and former MSZP MP, met a man in Budapest in June 2019 who had significant influence in the company making the offer. Baja asked for HUF 30 million (now EUR 75,800) from the man, which was the only way the former minister would give the contract a free pass if the bidding company won.

Opposition MP Zsolt Molnár joins

Zsolt Molnár, MSZP MP on 4 July, 2023. MTI/Illyés Tibor

Zsolt Molnár was informed about this corrupt deal. He asked the minister to request HUF 40 million (now EUR 101,000) for him from the man, in exchange for which he would not contest the contract. Allegedly, the man was Zsolt Fuzik, former IT manager of BKV and CBA.

The ltd. won the tender, and the man handed over HUF 40 million to Zsolt Molnár in Budapest on 6 August 2019,

Telex writes.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Zsolt Molnár committed the crime of influence peddling as an accomplice. Criminal proceedings will be launched and the issues clarified after the MP’s immunity has been lifted.

Zsolt Molnár’s earlier response to the bribery case

Zsolt Molnár, MSZP MP on 27 February, 2024. MTI/Szigetváry Zsolt

This is not the first time that the case has been brought up. The issue was raised two years ago, during the 2022 parliamentary election campaign. At the time, Molnár claimed that the only true part of the story was that he had met a man named Zsolt Fuzik once in his life, and they had talked for 20 minutes on a bench in a park near the Representatives’ Office Building (Képviselői Irodaház), Telex writes.

According to Ferenc Baja’s letter sent to 24.hu, Fuzik tried to convince him that SYS Ltd. (which won the tender and thus the IT operation of BKV) was capable of performing the tasks, but Baja claims that he always disputed this.

He stressed that he had not asked for or received a single forint or any other benefit. In his opinion, they want to create a political case against them again as the next elections are approaching.

Zsolt Molnár’s current response

Zsolt Molnár responded to the inquiry of 24.hu in a statement: “Hungary has recently been rocked by the biggest public scandal since the fall of communism, with Hungarian society and opposition politics putting so much pressure on the government that they have been forced to let go of several of their loyalists.

That is why Fidesz is now doing everything it can to make opposition parties and leading politicians powerless.

This time it is my turn.”

He reiterated that he had not accepted bribes or done anything illegal. “They’re trying to smear me on trumped-up charges because we know that you don’t have to tell the truth in a plea bargain. Once again there is a campaign, once again they are trying to divert attention from the reality by personal attacks,” he wrote in his statement to 24.hu.

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