Another property mafia exposed in Hungary: damage totals millions of euros
A criminal organisation has targeted properties in Budapest and the Lake Balaton region, committing a series of frauds worth nearly HUF 1.5 billion in just a few months. According to the Veszprém Prosecutor’s Office, lawyers and bank employees are also implicated in the property mafia case.
Using methods refined over several decades, the organisation attempted to wrest houses, flats, and plots from their owners in Budapest and around Lake Balaton, with a total value of approximately HUF 1.3 billion.
According to the indictment issued by the Veszprém Prosecutor’s Office and obtained by HVG, around a dozen properties fell victim to the criminal organisation within just a few months, with values ranging widely from HUF 25 million to HUF 236 million.
Insider information assisted the property mafia
The prosecution states that lawyers and an employee of a multinational bank were involved in the case. The indictment also emphasises that the perpetrators’ expertise and thoroughness were largely due to one of the accused having, as an employee of a company dealing with foreclosures, access not only to the addresses of problematic, often abandoned properties, but also to the personal data of their owners.
In some instances, contracts were drawn up using the names and personal details of owners who had passed away years earlier, with the signatures simply forged.
In a previous attempt, the property mafia discovered that a significant sum remained with a bailiff following the auction of a high-value property. As the debtor’s bank account was unknown, the money had been deposited into a trust account at the Economic Office of the Budapest Court.
The defendants were aware that no one had claimed the funds, so they prepared false authorisations in the owner’s name and attempted to transfer a total of HUF 98 million to themselves, but ultimately did not succeed.
Not only properties were targeted
In another case, the perpetrators learned that a Serbian man had euros equivalent to HUF 293 million in his bank account. According to the indictment, the property mafia, in collusion with a bank employee, prepared a false mandate, and one of them impersonated the account holder using a fake passport at a Budapest branch.
Although the bank initially transferred the entire sum, the transparency of its IT system eventually revealed that the employee had misused the man’s personal data. Nearly 90% of the withdrawn funds were seized from the defendant’s bank account and returned to the victim.
A total of 24 people were questioned in connection with the series of frauds. The prosecution has recommended prison sentences of five to eight years, confiscation of assets, and disqualification from public office for the main defendants if they plead guilty.
Similar case concluded in spring
In April this year, a verdict was delivered in the case of a property mafia involving two Budapest lawyers, similar to the one discussed above, after they acquired the properties of vulnerable individuals in collusion with a man working as a real estate agent. The agent had recommended one of the lawyers as legal representative to victims – mainly elderly and disadvantaged people – promising improved financial circumstances.
The lawyer’s female colleague became an accessory by countersigning the resulting contracts. Through their cooperation, between 2008 and 2014, they caused nearly HUF 70 million in damage across six properties.
According to the Budapest Chief Prosecutor’s Office, the series of frauds was carried out using multiple methods – in some cases, the contract listed a purchase price significantly higher than that agreed, or several documents with differing contents were prepared.
Although the real estate agent passed away during the proceedings, the male lawyer was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, fines, confiscation of assets, and disqualification from practising law, while his colleague received a two-year suspended sentence.
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