An international team of investigative journalists has examined donations to major European political parties. In Hungary this practice is more or less transparent, but there are some problems with party funding

Long-term car rental is a very expensive solution but it has the advantage of keeping the client using the car in secret. Antal Rogán and his wife, as well as the former deputy mayor of a Budapest district and former wife of Árpád Habony all used this option for several years. The car renting company has won several high-value state contracts in the past years.

Erik Bánki said that he currently “halfway” lives in the elegant Roman Wellness Home gated community, although there is no sign of this in his asset declarations. He did not declare the flat and over 100 hectares of land in Romania because they were owned by his companies, not by him personally.

Erik Bánki, a senior member of Hungary’s governing Fidesz party owns a lot of land in Hungary, but now we have also found his lands in Romania. He bought them for a huge bioethanol project, but it is unclear how he financed the purchases. According to him, various companies gave him loans, but he doesn’t remember their names.

A joint investigation by Direkt36 and RTL Klub has revealed that members of parliament often misuse money allocated to office renting.

Sándor Farkas, a member of parliament from the governing Fidesz party, does not think that this is a problem.

Former treasurer of the Hungarian Socialist party has a luxury yacht in Croatia with estimated market value of 260 thousand euros.

Nine more politicians declared previously hidden assets or state subsidies, after Direkt36 exposed mistakes in their wealth declarations. 27 million missing forints got included in the declarations, and several apologies were made.

“I did not have any clue that this needs to be declared,” said one state minister. Other officials also argued that the declaration system is too complicated.

A Direkt36 has revealed how several politicians filed incorrect or incomplete wealth declarations. Minister of state László Tasó was among them. He turned to the police claiming that he and his family were harassed. The police have launched an investigation.