- Aron Orban taken into custody on suspicion of human trafficking linked to alleged visa scheme charging fees to Vietnamese nationals.
- Joint NNI and NVVH raids detained four suspects; authorities allege over 100 visas were obtained through a criminal organisation in 2024.
- Viktor Orban denounced the detention as a dirty game, saying his brother is being used as a political tool.
Hungarian police took nationalist ex-leader Viktor Orban’s younger brother into custody on Monday, according to a press report shared by Prime Minister Peter Magyar.
Pro-EU conservative Magyar won a landslide election victory in April to end 16 years in power for Orban, promising to investigate alleged corruption and abuse of office during his rival’s rule.
“According to press reports, Viktor Orban’s brother, Aron Orban, has been taken into custody on suspicion of human trafficking,” Magyar wrote on Facebook.
The original report comes from Kontroll, a news site owned by Magyar’s brother Marton Magyar.
Former premier Orban called the detention a “dirty game”, accusing the government of trying to eliminate its political opponents.
“I am the target; my brother is merely a tool,” he wrote on Facebook.
Like other members of the Orban family, Aron Orban built several successful business ventures during his brother’s time in power.
Last year, an investigative report from news site Telex linked one of his companies to an alleged visa facilitation scheme that offered preferential access to Hungarian work visas for foreigners.
Police said several locations were searched on Monday in connection with two separate criminal cases but would not confirm whether Aron Orban had been detained when contacted by AFP.
The searches were carried out jointly by the National Bureau of Investigation (NNI) and the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH), an anti-graft body with sweeping powers established as part of Magyar’s accountability drive.
The NNI said four suspects had been detained on suspicion of human trafficking committed as part of a criminal organisation.
They are accused of helping more than 100 Vietnamese nationals obtain visas at Hungary’s diplomatic missions in Vietnam in 2024, charging a so-called “recruitment fee”, which they pocketed for themselves.
Separately, the NVVH said it had questioned a suspect over alleged influence-peddling.
The individual used his political connections and influence to seek an illicit payment to reinstate a temporary employment agency on the government’s register for priority employers, the NVVH said.
In September, the NVVH took over four investigations including one related to influence-peddling that could involve Aron Orban, according to local media.
Several investigations have gained momentum since Orban lost power.
Three ex-ministers are in custody, including former central bank governor Gyorgy Matolcsy, whom Orban once called his “right-hand” man.
