A large-scale international scandal surrounding Hungarian politics continues to acquire new details. It has been revealed that shortly before the parliamentary elections in Hungary, Aron Orbán, the younger brother of then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, attempted to arrange the interception of another Ukrainian cargo carrying valuables and cash in Austria. This became known thanks to a comprehensive investigation by the Hungarian publication 444, which published details of Aron Orbán’s correspondence with Csongor Lászlóvári-Toma, a businessman living in Graz, Austria.
Chronology of Events and Recruitment Attempt
Contacts between Aron Orbán and the Austrian businessman resumed on March 26, just two weeks before the crucial parliamentary elections in Hungary. The men had known each other previously but had not maintained contact for a long time. Immediately after communications resumed, the Hungarian prime minister’s brother inquired about Lászlóvári-Toma's political influence and his useful connections within Austrian structures. Subsequently, Orbán directly stated that a large Ukrainian cargo was passing through Austrian territory, hinting at the need to intercept it by analogy with the incident that occurred in early March.
Business Refusal and Intelligence Response
Entrepreneur Csongor Lászlóvári-Toma flatly refused to participate in the dubious scheme and immediately informed the Austrian special services, as well as the leadership of the Austrian People's Party, about the incident. In addition, the information was passed on to lawyer Lorant Horvath, who represented the legal interests of the Ukrainian cash-in-transit collectors. According to Lászlóvári-Toma, Aron Orbán had previously approached him with suspicious proposals concerning the military-industrial sector, but all of them were invariably met with a rigid refusal.
Background of the 'Golden Convoy' and Political Consequences
Recall that on the night of March 6, a loud scandal erupted with the detention by the Hungarian counter-terrorism center TEK of Oschadbank armored vehicles transporting millions of dollars and gold from Austria to Kyiv. Following the elections and the shift in the political landscape, the situation began to gradually resolve: valuables were returned in the spring, and in August, the tax authorities of Hungary finally closed the criminal proceedings due to the absence of a criminal offense. Aron Orbán's attempt to organize a new interception demonstrates the scale of pressure exerted on financial flows in the midst of the election campaign.
Contradictory Data
During the investigation, journalists were met with silence from officials. Neither Aron Orbán nor former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán commented on the published correspondence and accusations of trying to interfere in the transportation of funds. At the same time, representatives of the Hungarian opposition insist on an independent international investigation into the actions of law enforcement agencies during the spring crisis, pointing to the possible political motivation behind the detentions of Ukrainian collectors.
