Fidesz: Former Budapest officials expected to appear before parliament’s economic committee over OLAF report

Budapest, February 27 (MTI) – Former senior officials of Budapest are expected to appear before parliament’s economic committee on Tuesday in connection with the metro 4 construction project, “the largest corruption scandal of all time”, ruling Fidesz said.

Former deputy mayors Csaba Horváth and Miklós Hagyó, of the opposition Socialists, and fomer head of the Socialist group in the Budapest general assembly Erzsébet Gy Németh, currently an opposition Democratic Coalition politician, have been invited, the party said in a statement on Monday.

The European Union audit office OLAF said in a report that a third of the metro 4 construction was affected by fraud and Hungary is expected to repay 59 billion forints (EUR 190m) to Brussels. Fidesz said that the responsibility clearly lies with the governments of Péter Medgyessy, Ferenc Gyurcsány and Gordon Bajnai, and as well as the Socialist-Free Democrats city management under Mayor Gábor Demszky. The report suggests that prohibited party financing could have been committed and part of the money for the metro construction project could have ended up in Socialist coffers, Fidesz added.

The committe first attempted to hear the former prime ministers and the former Budapest mayor on February 15 but they did not turn up for the hearing.

Source: MTI