Fidesz MP and former minister Lajos Kósa met with the Csenger woman four times in Switzerland where they even visited banks together, including a luxury, private one, according to new details unearthed in the scam case.
According to the current standing of the case (and the prosecution’s belief), between 2013 and 2018, Mária P. (formerly Mrs. Gábor Sz.) cheated a large sum from people by claiming that she inherited about 1.3 billion forints (EUR 3.6 million), but since it proved costly to put her hands on the money, she asked for loans from individuals, promising financial gains in return. She got into contact with Kósa too who even signed official agreements. She promised the Fidesz strongman and his family members gifts and money. Although Kósa states he found out the non-existence of the fabulous heritage early on, according to his and other testimonies, he still appeared ready to do what the lady told him, for example, to meet the German finance minister.
According to Kósa’s testimony now published by liberal weekly HVG, the current president of the Parliament’s Committee on Defense and Law Enforcement met with Mária P. four times in Switzerland. Before visiting banks together, he accompanied the woman to a Swiss lawyer in order to obtain authorization for Kósa to access her account.
A little later they also went to UBS bank, where, according to Kósa’s testimony, the bank’s representative greeted the lady “like an old client.” When asked, the representative refused to provide any information about the bank’s relationship with the woman, referring to bank confidentiality rules. The Csenger lady, however, earlier told Kósa that she had an account with UBS, and rented a safe with “large amounts of cash coins and gold.”
In addition, after visiting UBS, they also went to an illustrious private bank called Jaffra Sarazin, where the two were received in “extremely exclusive circumstances” by someone who spoke Hungarian without an accent despite his (alleged) name not being Hungarian, Kósa told investigators.
According to comments made by independent MP Ákos Hadházy, although this one is a “very bizarre and ridiculous story,” another case involving Kósa was “the best proven corruption case of the last 30 years.” He recalled that a few years ago Lajos Kósa’s family bought a company remarkably inexpensive from a person who was linked to employment cooperatives. It later turned out that the company had assets of HUF 130 million (EUR 362,000). In addition, after the deal was made, Lajos Kósa “walked into Parliament and submitted a bill” on the establishment of retirement cooperatives, Hadházy said. The independent MP insinuated that the company was a “gift” for Kósa in return for the change in law.
featured image via Zoltán Máthé/MTI
