Hungary anti-graft watchdog boss charged with corruption

_________________

Budapest — Hungarian prosecutors on Tuesday charged the head of the country's anti-corruption organisation with offences including embezzlement.

Prosecutors allege that Ferenc Biro caused losses of 400,000 euros (about sh1.74 billion) to the Integrity Authority, an autonomous public body established in 2022 as part of EU-mandated reforms.

The authority is slated to have its legal powers expanded under new reforms that the pro-EU government of Peter Magyar, in office since May, agreed with Brussels to access billions of euros in frozen funds.

Biro — who long complained that the agency lacked the "proper tools and powers" to fulfil its tasks — was indicted mere days after claiming the previous Viktor Orban-led nationalist government pressured him not to take action.

He was first accused of corruption in January 2025 after prosecutors raided the Integrity Authority offices. Biro said the case against him was politically motivated.

Now formal charges have been made.

"The prosecutor's office filed charges for abuse of office, forgery of public documents, and embezzlement resulting in particularly significant financial loss," prosecutors said in a statement.

Accusations against Biro include leasing a "luxury SUV" for his wife through the Integrity Authority, unlawfully limiting his deputies' powers and contracting a Brussels-based consulting firm despite not having a mandate to do so.

The accusations laid out are "factually incorrect", Biro told investigative group De Akciokozosseg in a video interview published Sunday.

He also claimed the then-justice minister told him not to carry out his duties in a March 2024 meeting.

According to his estimate, systemic corruption cost Hungary at least 186 billion euros during Orban's 16-year tenure.

Graft was around five percent of the annual budget in 2010 when Orban returned to power, and it climbed to an about 20 percent share last year, he said.