Orban denies ordering March seizure of Ukrainian gold convoy

Former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban denies he personally ordered the March 5 seizure of a Ukrainian cash-and-gold convoy, as the new government presses for further hearings.

Why it matters: The competing claims go to whether Hungary's March seizure of $40 million, 35 million euros and 9 kilograms of gold was a lawful money-laundering stop or a politically ordered operation, with the tax authority's case already closed for lack of evidence.

Data as of Orban's denial single-sourced to Bloomberg on October 9, 2026; background from the Budapest Times. The underlying allegation (ex-prosecutor Pal Furcht's open letter) and the denial are competing political claims in Hungary's post-election scrutiny of the former government, not independently adjudicated facts.

Viktor Orban, Hungary’s former prime minister, denies he gave the order for the March 5 seizure of two Ukrainian Oschadbank vehicles carrying $40 million, 35 million euros in cash and 9 kilograms of gold on the M0 motorway, Bloomberg reported on October 9. The denial follows an open letter from Pal Furcht, the former head of the Central Investigation Chief Prosecutor’s Office, who claimed Orban personally instructed the intelligence services on March 3 to detain the couriers, and current Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s call for further hearings.

The seven-member Ukrainian crew was questioned and expelled the following day, and the assets were returned to Ukraine days before Magyar’s inauguration in May after the tax authority closed its case for lack of evidence. Furcht wrote that prosecutors had concluded the case was a politically fabricated affair, while Orban’s Fidesz party rejects the accusation.

Orban denies ordering March seizure of Ukrainian gold convoy

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