CLOSING OF ACCOUNTS IN K&H BROKER CASE

On May 5 about fifty private persons’ and legal entities’ accounts and assets were closed because they are suspected that they had received money from the billions embezzled at K&H Equities Company. The piece of news has been confirmed by the Metropolitan Court.

The verdict of the Central District Court of Pest is not legally binding but the order is valid. They have closed the total property of Britton Ltd, Kartonpack Company (its shares have not been sold for a time on the stock exchange market), Novoprint Company, and BR Immobilia Ltd, and HUF 41 million of the Globe International Investment Ltd. These companies are all attached to the persons suspected of committing the series of crimes (including János Mészáros and Csaba Kerék), though the suspects have sold Novoprint in the meantime, so the consequences of the verdict must be born by the new owners. The ruling of the court says that in the case of these firms there were signs of trying to stow away assets in safety that was why the order was necessary. Informed sources claim, however, that since the outbreak of the broker scandal there has been ample time to save illegal gains. The authorities may have experienced this when they blocked Henrik Schönthal’s accounts. Schönthal has left Hungary for years and the latest news claim he stays in South America. HUF 270 million of Eurocom Hungary Ltd, attached to Dezső Pintér, former president of TV 2 (the managing director of the firm is Attila Könnyű, partner of the media entrepreneur) has been also blocked, while HUF 147,6 million of Tízezer Ltd, a family company of another media entrepreneur, Tamás Forró has been closed. It seems that several lawyers’ offices are also affected by the verdict, including Czeglédi and Partners Lawyer’s Office. László Czeglédi is at this moment the chairman of the board of trustees of the Hungarian Television Public Endowment. On the account of Imre Kónya, former Minister of the Interior HUF 9 million has been closed while at Mercedes-Benz Magyarország Ltd the price of a car has been blocked as Henrik Schönthal had bought a car from this firm. There is an inner investigation in K&H Bank going on with the assistance of almost half a dozen lawyer’s offices and with the experts of Ernst&Young, an international audit firm. It seems there are differences in the results between the police and the experts but the bank wishes to reveal all the facts to eliminate such illegal transactions in future.

Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó