Hungary's Former Central Bank Governor Matolcsy Detained in Probe Into 266 Billion Forint Foundations Case
Hungarian prosecutors detained former central bank governor György Matolcsy on October 21 in an investigation into foundations set up by the bank during his tenure, which prosecutors say caused significant financial losses. Since early 2025, prosecutors and police have been examining how more than 266 billion forints ($817 million) of central bank money moved through the foundations and related companies.
The investigation began after a State Audit Office report raised concerns about investments made by a foundation set up by the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) and by Optima Investment Ltd, which managed the foundation's assets. Prosecutors said Matolcsy refused to testify, that they had initiated international arrest warrants against two more people, and that they were seeking his arrest, with a court to decide that week. His lawyer, Pál Bátki, told Reuters Matolcsy was suspected of fraud causing significant financial losses and of using a forged private document, calling the allegations "a very complex set" that the defense had not yet had the opportunity to fully review. Matolcsy has denied wrongdoing.
Prosecutors say the NBH established the Pallas Athene Foundations in 2014, under Matolcsy, and endowed them with public money from the central bank's exchange-rate gains. In May, prosecutors and police seized some 92 billion forints ($300 million) in funds and securities as part of a related money-laundering investigation. They also allege that on February 28, 2025, Matolcsy's penultimate working day as governor, a private equity fund represented by Optima concluded a sham securities lending agreement aimed at transferring control of the foundations' assets to people over whom Matolcsy would retain influence after his mandate expired, so that he and his son could invest the assets for their own profit.
Matolcsy headed the central bank from 2013 to 2025, after serving as economy minister in Viktor Orbán's government from 2010 to 2013, and was considered one of Orbán's closest economic allies. He said in April that the bank had no legal mandate to interfere in the foundations' operations because they "were acting independently." Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who ousted Orbán in an election in April, has said the central bank's past operations must be investigated, and his ruling party has set up a parliamentary committee for that purpose.
Source: GSM·USA
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于布达佩斯的匈牙利国家银行总部大楼。图片：Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 2.0
