His lawyer, Pál Bátki, told Hungarian news outlet Telex that Matolcsy had been detained on suspicion of economic fraud causing significant financial damage and the use of a forged private document.
UNB
21 October, 2026, 03:55 pm
Last modified: 21 October, 2026, 04:04 pm
Hungarian police on Wednesday arrested former central bank governor György Matolcsy on suspicion of economic fraud and other financial offences, marking a major development in the new government's efforts to investigate alleged abuses during the rule of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced Matolcsy's detention in a Facebook post but did not provide further details.
Since taking office earlier this year, Magyar's government has made investigating suspected financial misconduct by officials from the previous administration a priority.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hungary's Central Prosecutor's Office said it was conducting coordinated investigative operations at several locations as part of a probe into the suspected criminal misappropriation of funds linked to the central bank. The office did not name Matolcsy but said further information would be released later.
Matolcsy headed Hungary's central bank from 2013 to 2025, after serving as Orbán's economy minister from 2010 to 2013. He was considered one of Orbán's closest economic allies and has denied any wrongdoing.
His lawyer, Pál Bátki, told Hungarian news outlet Telex that Matolcsy had been detained on suspicion of economic fraud causing significant financial damage and the use of a forged private document.
Much of Matolcsy's tenure at the central bank was overshadowed by allegations of corruption involving foundations established by the bank and endowed with hundreds of billions of forints in public funds, equivalent to hundreds of millions of dollars.
A criminal complaint was filed last month alleging embezzlement, negligence, fraud and abuse of office during Matolcsy's tenure as governor.
The complaint followed an audit of the central bank's past real estate investments, which reportedly found that some properties had been purchased at inflated prices, resulting in significant financial losses for the bank.
It remained unclear whether Matolcsy's detention was linked to the real estate transactions or the funding provided to the central bank's foundations.
In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Magyar said members of the previous government, along with oligarchs, businesspeople and their relatives, had committed serious crimes, particularly corruption involving both national and European Union funds.
His administration launched the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office in July, granting it investigative and prosecutorial powers to pursue cases involving the alleged misuse of public money.
Magyar described the office as a "superauthority" capable of coordinating with police, prosecutors and the national tax authority to investigate complex corruption cases more quickly.