Former head of Hungarian National Bank arrested in probe into loss of bank funds

The court has ordered the arrest of the former governor of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB), György Matolcsy for one month, spokeswoman Anna Madarasi of the Budapest Metropolitan Court announced after Friday's hearing in the case concluded.

Tamás Sándor, the attorney of the companies of the former governor's son, Ádám Matolcsy, as well as Mihály Valkó, a senior executive at a company linked to Ádám Matolcsy and István Száraz were also taken into custody. The hearings in which the decisions on the arrests were made started at 9 a.m. and did not conclude until shortly before 6 p.m. Since the suspects have appealed the decision, it is still not final.

Speaking at the press conference following the hearing, the spokesperson said that there were no doubts raised in court either about the reasonable suspicion that the crime had been committed, or about the loss of assets.

“The judge justified his decision by noting that although this investigation has been underway for some time, the suspects were already aware of it through media reports. At the same time, they were only formally charged this week, meaning they have only now come to realize that they could actually be held accountable,” the spokesperson explained. She added that

the court is aware that the scope of the investigation and the circle of suspects are likely to expand, so if the suspects were released, they would have the opportunity to influence the proceedings.

Earlier this week, prosecutors raided several locations in relation to one of the threads of what has become known as “the MNB case”, including the home of György Matolcsy, who served as governor of the Hungarian National Bank between 2013-2026. Matolcsy was detained on Wednesday on suspicion of having committed economic fraud and other crimes resulting in particularly significant financial loss.

According to the investigation, in the final days of Matolcsy being at the helm of the institution, and just a few days prior to the State Audit Office publishing its report about the MNB case and the fate of the 650 million euros worth of forints, there was some unusual restructuring around PADME, the central bank's foundation. Specifically, on February 28, 2025, right before Matolcsy’s departure, Optima Investment Ltd., which managed the foundation’s assets, transferred the shares of Optima Investment Fund Management to a private equity fund called Közép-Európai III. Magántőkealap under a contract described as a securities loan. Behind the complicated company names stood a familiar figure: the private equity fund was managed by Quartz Investment Fund Management, whose majority owner was István Száraz-a longtime friend of Ádám Matolcsy, the governor’s son.

Under this arrangement, it was not the foundation’s assets themselves that were sold. Instead, the ownership rights of the company which played a key role in managing those assets would have been transferred to the private equity fund for several years.

However, the plan was thwarted by the arrival of Mihály Varga: after the new governor of the central bank took office, the foundation’s former board of trustees stepped down, and the controversial contract was terminated within a few days. Varga and his team were not satisfied with simply reversing the transaction though: they launched an investigation and, in April, filed a criminal complaint. Quartz later tried to explain the transaction by claiming that it intended to provide professional assistance to Optima; however, documents obtained by Telex suggested that the ownership restructuring was likely planned well in advance.

Although Ádám Matolcsy did not officially feature in this story—and there had previously been no evidence that he was even informally involved in the matter—those familiar with the case say that Stofa is his trusted associate. As for Ádám Matolcsy’s role, the Central Investigative Prosecutor’s Office said that the true purpose of the sham securities loan agreement was to “transfer the right to control the assets of the PADME Foundation to a group of individuals over whom György Matolcsy would retain influence even after his term as central bank governor expired, thereby enabling him and his son to make investments in line with their own interests for the purpose of financial gain.” However, this move resulted in a financial loss of several hundred million forints. The former head of the central bank and his associates are suspected of economic fraud causing a significant financial loss, as well as other criminal offenses.

György Matolcsy was not the only person detained on Wednesday. Along with him, investigators detained and questioned the attorney who has regularly represented the companies of Ádám Matolcsy and who was involved in the securities transaction in question, as well as a senior executive of a company linked to Ádám Matolcsy and István Száraz.

Investigating prosecutors would have also wanted to question Ádám Matolcsy and György Stofa—who heads the companies managing the real estate investments and funds of the MNB foundations—as suspects, but since neither of them is in the country, the prosecutor’s office requested the issuing of an international arrest warrant. Since the court will decide on the request based on the case files, the warrant is not yet in effect. However, the national arrest warrants against them remain in effect on the website of the police.