Hungary's Orban denies ordering Ukrainian cash and gold seized when leader

BUDAPEST, Oct 13 - Hungarian former Prime Minister Viktor Orban has denied directing authorities to seize two Ukrainian cash-in-transit vehicles carrying $82 million in cash and gold, dismissing the claims as politically motivated.

Seven Ukrainians transporting the assets were briefly detained by Hungarian authorities in March on suspicion of money laundering.

The case increased tensions between Hungary and Ukraine before an April election that ended Russia ally Orban's 16-year tenure as prime minister.

Ukraine's Oschadbank said its employees, transporting the cash and gold from Austria to Ukraine, had been engaged in a routine operation of the kind that it had carried out weekly since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Hungarian prosecutors launched an investigation into the handling of the case, including allegations of unlawful detention and mistreatment of the Ukrainian nationals.

In June, prosecutors named Janos Hajdu, a former head of Hungary's counter-terrorism forces and now security chief for Orban's Fidesz party, as a suspect.

Orban has not been questioned, but politicians from the governing Tisza party had challenged him to say whether he was involved.

"Viktor Orban! Face the Hungarian people and say it clearly, directly, and in a manner worthy of a true leader: Did you give the order to stop the 'gold convoy', or not?" Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi wrote in a statement last week.

On Monday, Orban called the transit of Ukrainian cash and gold "Europe's biggest corruption case."

"I did not have to make specific decisions and order measures because, fortunately, the Hungarian authorities did their job of their own accord. But I would have done so anyway if they had not done it themselves," Orban told Hir TV channel.

"Now they want to bring me to court for this? ... This has nothing to do with corruption, nothing to do with abuse of power. This is about wanting to eliminate the right wing." REUTERS