NAV busts crime ring planning campaign finance fraud

Police have arrested three individuals tied to a crime ring that had been conspiring to illegally obtain hundreds of millions of forints in campaign funds by fielding candidates with fake recommendations in the spring general election, tax authority NAV said on Thursday.

Investigators suspect that the crime ring had been planning to run four parties in the election and field candidates using forged recommendation forms to secure state funding for their campaigns.

Under Hungary’s election law, prospective candidates must secure 500 signatures to run in an individual constituency.

To fill out the candidate recommendation forms with fake personal details, the suspects hired a hacker to steal the personal details of some 9,000 voters from the database of an insurance brokerage. They received help from one of the brokerage’s employees, NAV said.

The suspects are believed to have reached out to a number of people to run as candidates for their parties.

Police will interrogate four other suspects in the case.