{"id":27341,"date":"2026-10-23T04:06:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T03:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/?p=27341"},"modified":"2026-10-23T04:06:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T03:06:32","slug":"prosecutors-ask-court-to-jail-ex-central-bank-chief-matolcsy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/2026\/10\/23\/prosecutors-ask-court-to-jail-ex-central-bank-chief-matolcsy\/","title":{"rendered":"Matolcsy faces pre-trial detention over alleged PADME foundation transfer"},"content":{"rendered":"<section aria-labelledby=\"hpd-nfnmyipv-inrtzyj-hlesdml-zofjqh\" class=\"auk-zvimcvi-inrtzyj\" lang=\"en\">\n<h2 id=\"hpd-nfnmyipv-inrtzyj-hlesdml-zofjqh\">In brief<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Prosecutors want Gy\u00f6rgy Matolcsy held in pre-trial detention; a judge is expected to rule on Friday.<\/li>\n<li>He is suspected of economic fraud causing significant damage and of using a forged private document.<\/li>\n<li>Two other people were detained and international warrants were sought for two more.<\/li>\n<li>The case grows out of State Audit Office findings on the central bank foundations, published in March 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<p>After questioning him as a suspect on Wednesday, 21 October, Hungarian prosecutors asked a court to order the pre-trial detention of Gy\u00f6rgy Matolcsy, the former governor of the National Bank of Hungary, <a href=\"https:\/\/dailynewshungary.com\/prosecutors-seek-arrest-matolcsy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Daily News Hungary<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<h2>The request, the suspicions and the defence<\/h2>\n<p>Matolcsy is suspected of economic fraud causing significant financial damage, as well as the misdemeanour of using a forged private document. His questioning ended shortly before 3.30 PM. According to his lawyer, P\u00e1l B\u00e1tki, he made no statement on the allegations and spoke only about his personal circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>B\u00e1tki said the prosecutors had set out the grounds for their suspicion in a document. \u201cIt was very difficult to process this five-page document containing a great deal of information. Until we see what evidence forms the basis of it, we cannot respond to it,\u201d the lawyer said.<\/p>\n<p>The defence lodged a complaint against the detention. It argues that pre-trial detention would be unjustified, citing Matolcsy\u2019s age, stable living conditions and close family ties. After questioning, he was moved from the Central Investigative Prosecutor\u2019s Office to a police detention facility. A judge is expected to decide on Friday. The court could order detention or opt for a less restrictive measure such as criminal supervision. Under Hungarian procedure, detention following an arrest can last up to 72 hours before a decision on further measures must be made.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"hpd-nfnmyipv-imzntj-gogcn\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Stone building facade with two ornate carved doorways, wooden double doors and a white statue in an Egyptian-style headdress on a pedestal in front of steps.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/stone-building-facade-with-two-ornate-carved-doorways-wooden.jpg\" \/><figcaption>Illustrative photo. Ornate stone building entrance with carved door surrounds, wooden doors and a white statue on a pedestal. Illustrative image of an institutional building exterior. <span class=\"auk-gogcn-ertkm\" data-provider=\"pexels\">Photo: Efrem Efre \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/exterior-of-a-hotel-building-budapest-hungary-19577640\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Pexels<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>The alleged scheme around the PADME foundation<\/h2>\n<p>Prosecutors allege that Matolcsy and associates used a sham securities-lending agreement, signed on 28 February 2025, one of his final working days as governor, to transfer control of PADME Foundation assets to people he could still influence. These are allegations, not established facts.<\/p>\n<p>PADME grew out of the Pallas Ath\u00e9n\u00e9 foundations, set up by the central bank in 2014. According to prosecutors, they received more than HUF 266 billion (about EUR 700 million) from exchange-rate gains. They merged in 2019 as PADME, and Optima Befektet\u00e9si Zrt. managed their assets.<\/p>\n<div class=\"auk-kmrcibp\">\n<div class=\"auk-fsnsbv\"><strong class=\"auk-fsnsbv__fvtkh\">HUF 266<span class=\"auk-fsnsbv__wmbpnjn\">bn<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"auk-fsnsbv__ppkniutc\">received by the foundations from central bank exchange-rate gains<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"auk-fsnsbv\"><strong class=\"auk-fsnsbv__fvtkh\">HUF 200<span class=\"auk-fsnsbv__wmbpnjn\">bn<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"auk-fsnsbv__ppkniutc\">assets whose control shifted with the transfer of shares (around EUR 547 million)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"auk-fsnsbv\"><strong class=\"auk-fsnsbv__fvtkh\">HUF 500<span class=\"auk-fsnsbv__wmbpnjn\">m<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"auk-fsnsbv__ppkniutc\">legal threshold for particularly significant financial damage<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The transaction moved shares of Optima Befektet\u00e9si Alapkezel\u0151 Zrt. to the Central European III Private Equity Fund, shifting control over assets worth nearly HUF 200 billion. Prosecutors allege the aim was to let Matolcsy and his son \u00c1d\u00e1m invest for personal gain. They said the exact financial damage is not yet established but substantially exceeds the HUF 500 million threshold.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/bbj.hu\/politics\/domestic\/former-hungarian-central-bank-governor-gyorgy-matolcsy-taken-into-custody\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Budapest Business Journal<\/a> reports that the ownership transfer of Optima dates from February 2025 and that the fund is managed by Quartz, majority-owned by Istv\u00e1n Sz\u00e1raz, a longtime friend of \u00c1d\u00e1m Matolcsy. Governor Mih\u00e1ly Varga ordered an investigation and referred it to the State Audit Office.<\/p>\n<h2>Others caught up in the case<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Two other people were detained besides Matolcsy, and prosecutors sought international arrest warrants for two further individuals.<\/li>\n<li>Searches were conducted at several locations and evidence was seized.<\/li>\n<li>Reported detainees include a lawyer who regularly represents companies of \u00c1d\u00e1m Matolcsy and an executive of the company formally owning a Mykonos villa linked to him.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How the case built up<\/h2>\n<ol class=\"auk-ofbnbzso\">\n<li><time>March 2025<\/time> The State Audit Office published reports on PADME, a John von Neumann University foundation and MNB operations, including its headquarters renovation, identifying serious shortcomings and major losses.<\/li>\n<li><time>September 2026<\/time> The central bank filed a criminal complaint over impairments on five properties it owns. Varga then said a further 30,000 pages of documents had gone to the parliamentary investigative committee.<\/li>\n<li><time>Early October 2026<\/time> The committee questioned former Fidesz MPs Lajos K\u00f3sa and Erik B\u00e1nki. According to Telex, both said they had not previously suspected wrongdoing involving the foundations.<\/li>\n<li><time>21 October 2026<\/time> Matolcsy was questioned as a suspect.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Telex has also reported that about HUF 200 billion was lost through property deals involving foundation assets. That is a media report, not a proven total. A video from the prison on Gyorskocsi Street in Budapest shows the police car carrying Matolcsy arriving at the gate, which was not yet open.<\/p>\n<p class=\"media-credit auk-gogcn-ertkm\" data-provider=\"pexels\"><small>Photo: Tibor Szabo \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/the-museum-of-ethnography-with-trees-13543451\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Pexels<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hungarian prosecutors say a sham share-lending deal signed on one of his last days in office moved control of foundation assets beyond public reach.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":27343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1242,1156,1239,1240,1241,1243],"class_list":["post-27341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-economic-fraud","tag-hungary","tag-matolcsy","tag-national-bank-of-hungary","tag-padme","tag-pre-trial-detention"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27341"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27349,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27341\/revisions\/27349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}