Key facts
- Hungary's tax authority raided locations and arrested suspects in a probe into COVID-era medical procurement.
- The investigation concerns the 2020 purchase of 17,000 ventilators and 3 million masks for 15.6 billion forints.
- The state budget allegedly lost 660 million forints due to fraudulent invoices and shell companies.
- An international arrest warrant has been issued for a suspected leader believed to be in Indonesia.
Hungary's National Tax and Customs Administration announced late on Tuesday that it had carried out dawn raids and arrested suspects in an investigation into suspected fraud related to the procurement of medical equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The probe centers on the 2020 purchase of nearly 17,000 ventilators and 3 million medical masks from China for 15.6 billion forints ($47.31 million). The Foreign Ministry, under the previous government led by Viktor Orban, had reported suspected fraud in the purchase of ventilators worth a combined 300 billion forints ($910 million). The tax authority stated that suspects used shell companies and fraudulent invoices to minimize VAT obligations, resulting in a 660 million forint ($1.99 million) loss to the state budget. Separately, the National Bureau of Investigation is conducting its own proceedings concerning mismanagement, overpricing, and the usability of the equipment.