The Debrecen Court of Justice held a hearing in the case of four defendants accused of committing budgetary fraud.
According to the indictment, the criminal organization was internationally composed, including Hungarian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Romanian-Russian citizens, and regularly transported large quantities of cigarettes illegally from the United Arab Emirates to Hungary via Debrecen International Airport.
The first shipment arrived in Debrecen on January 29, 2021, the second on February 26, 2021, and the third on March 23, 2021. The transport documents falsely listed automobile parts. During the third shipment, the goods arriving by air were transferred onto four Polish trucks. When the trucks left the airport, patrol officers of the National Tax and Customs Administration stopped and inspected them, discovering that in addition to the automobile parts used as cover, there were large quantities of untaxed, unstamped cigarettes, which were confiscated and seized.
Altogether, the three shipments caused a financial loss of more than 8.5 billion forints to the state budget. During the criminal proceedings, the investigative authorities, as part of asset security measures, seized luxury cars, valuable watches, and cash worth nearly 600 million forints.
The Hajdú-Bihar County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against the Hungarian defendant under criminal supervision, the Polish defendant on bail, and the currently unknown-location co-defendants for committing budgetary fraud in a criminal organization causing particularly significant financial damage. In the indictment, the prosecution requested that, if they admit guilt, the Hungarian defendant be sentenced to nine years in prison and the Polish defendant to ten years, both barred from holding public office for the same period, fined 1.25 million forints each, and that the property seized during the investigation be confiscated.
The continuation of witness examinations was expected.
