Orbán's brother messaged Hungarian businessman in Austria about intercepting another Ukrainian cash shipment

A series of messages between Viktor Orbán’s younger brother and a Hungarian businessman living in Austria, exchanged in late March, shortly after the “cash convoy” scandal broke have been obtained by 444. Áron Orbán was asking the businessman whether the Austrian authorities would be able to intercept another shipment from Ukraine. He claimed to have information on when this alleged shipment would be arriving. The businessman dismissed Áron Orbán’s inquiry, and the exchange was eventually cut short.

According to the sources of 444, it is highly unlikely that Áron Orbán had any accurate information about the schedule of the Ukrainian cash shipments. The businessman told 444 that the former prime minister’s younger brother is a “rather naive individual” who has been “used as a sort of walking business card by certain interest groups.” According to him, Áron Orbán had approached him several times in the past with various business proposals, but these were all “terribly frivolous matters.”

The businessman reported the incident to both the Austrian intelligence services and the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), which leads the coalition government. He informed the party because Áron Orbán had approached him citing his political connections. The man's political connections were limited to the fact that in 2021 he ran as a candidate for the Austrian People’s Party in the Graz municipal election but did not win a seat; in other words, the businessman had no significant political influence in Austria.

Áron Orbán probably had no role in the "cash convoy” affair, but there was another case in which he was deeply involved. The National Office for Asset Recovery and Protection (NVVH) announced on Monday that it was taking over the case involving Áron Orbán’s visa business, which Telex had uncovered back in May 2025. The NVVH summarized the essence of the case as follows: “According to the allegations, a group with close ties to leading political figures agreed, in exchange for financial compensation, to ensure that anyone applying for residence permits in Hungary for employment purposes through them would certainly receive the necessary visas.”

An investigation had previously been launched into the matter, but it yielded no substantive results. After Fidesz’s downfall, however, two men involved in the case—Áron Orbán’s associates—were arrested; but the former prime minister’s younger brother remained untouched, even though Telex’s investigation and the evidence obtained by our newspaper indicate that his associates acted in close cooperation with him and the business deal would not have been possible without him.