Panama Papers expose new details in major corruption case

Pethő András 2018.06.21. Leave a comment

The so-called Eclipse scandal was one of the biggest corruption cases of the last two decades in Hungary. The new Panama Papers now reveal that a businessman with extensive connections to the government signed a consultancy contract with Eclipse through an offshore company.

New Panama Papers Inquiry Reveals Details of Hungary’s Golden Visa Program

Pethő András, Zöldi Blanka 2018.06.21. Leave a comment

A businessman involved in the controversial Hungarian residence program told Mossack Fonseca that he believes the Chinese government is behind one of the companies running the scheme.

A well-connected lawyer wins contract in Hungary’s gigantic nuclear project

Szabó András 2018.06.12. Leave a comment

Tamas Perenyei was a state secretary during the first Orban-government and he maintains friendly relations with OTP-leader Sandor Csanyi. Last year, he bought a company which now signed a contract with Rosatom.

Company that announced new Hungarian immigration program backs down and deletes ads

Zöldi Blanka 2018.05.17. Leave a comment

The Hong Kong-based company now claims that it had not been circumspect enough. According to the government, the program is a plain lie.

New Hungarian immigration program advertised by a businessman, previously in controversial Golden Visa scheme

Zöldi Blanka 2018.05.16. 1 Comment

A Chinese advertisement says that applicants have to invest in real estate in order to receive Hungarian papers. According to the company that advertises the new programme, everything is discussed with Hungarian authorities. However, the Immigration Office denies this.

The U.S. is so fed up with Hungary’s passport fraud problem that it’s threatening to kick the country out of its visa waiver program

Pethő András, John Hudson 2018.05.10.

Viktor Orban and Donald Trump might be kindred spirits but there is a serious conflict between their governments over national security threats, a joint story by Direkt36 and The Washington Post has revealed.

How we teamed up with The Washington Post to expose a secret conflict between the U.S. and Hungary

Pethő András 2018.05.10.

A few weeks ago we reached out to The Washington Post and told them that we are working on a story that might be of interest for them as well. It turned out that it did.

How Viktor Orban’s government is favoring the Russians over a Hungarian company in a big business deal

Szabó András 2018.04.24.

Ganz won the tender with the backing of a state-owned Hungarian bank, but the deal fell through when the Hungarian government decided to redirect the loan to a group with Russian participation instead.

The EU Anti-Fraud Office investigated irregularities reported by Direkt36

Szabó András 2018.04.12.

OLAF found several irregularities in the implementation of the Jeremie venture capital programme in Hungary previously reported by Direkt36 in cooperation with Forbes.

Businessman winning state contracts watched football match with Viktor Orbán

Pethő András 2018.04.04.

Gábor Szentgyörgyi’s company does not even have a functioning website but it has been winning lucrative state contracts in recent years.

Nem jött össze a hatalmas spórolás, ami az Elios-nak milliárdokat ért

Vorák Anita 2018.04.03.

Jelentős energiamegtakarítást vállalt Tiborcz István egykori cége azokban a városokban, ahol felújította a közvilágítást. Két város fogyasztási adatai alapján valamennyit javult a helyzet, de a kitűzött cél nagyon messze van, és kétséges, hogy az Elios által beszerelt lámpákkal valaha elérhető.

The moneyman of Bashar al-Assad received permanent residence permit in Hungary after having been put on U.S. sanction list

Erdélyi Péter, Zöldi Blanka 2018.03.29.

Hungarian authorities do not plan to carry out further investigations or to revoke the permanent residence permit of two the two Syrian men with controversial backgrounds named in the joint investigation of Direkt36 and 444. According to the Immigration Office, one of them did not buy residency bonds, contrary to what a close relative of his told Direkt36.

The moneyman of Bashar al-Assad and a suspect of a serious international crime participated in Hungary’s Golden Visa program

Erdélyi Péter, Zöldi Blanka, Sáling Gergő 2018.03.28.

People who could pose serious security risks for Hungary and the European Union were granted residency through a controversial Golden Visa scheme run by the Hungarian government.

Orbán legtöbbet költő tanácsadójának étkezési szokásait védve titkolózik a kormány

Vorák Anita 2018.03.23.

Hegedűs Zsuzsa rekord összeget költött reprezentációra. A számlákat nem mutatja meg a kormány, mert azokból megismerhetnénk a kedvenc boltjait. Pedig állítólag nem magának vásárolt havi átlag 136 ezerért.

Orbán’s Game

Pethő András, Szabó András 2018.03.12. Leave a comment

Intelligence operations, huge business deals, and personal ambitions. These are some of the factors that drive Viktor Orbán in pulling his country closer to Russia.

The Eight Most Interesting Revelations From Our Orbán-Putin Story

Pethő András, Szabó András 2018.03.12.

Why did Orbán’s ally had a business meeting with the Russian secret service? Why was it so important for Orbán to buy the Russian stake in Hungary’s oil company? How tough is Putin with his own men? And some more interesting details from our investigation.

Senior official says no residency bond buyers stayed in Hungary. But we have found several of them

Zöldi Blanka 2018.03.05. 4 Comments

Chinese citizens have been flocking to Hungary. But since public outrages forced the suspension of the country’s Golden Visa program last year, these new guests have begun to wonder if they’ll get their investment back.

Lázár János nagyon kedvező feltételeket szabott Tiborczéknak a hódmezővásárhelyi lámpacserénél

Vorák Anita 2018.03.01. 1 Comment

Kikötötték ugyan, hogy az új közvilágításnak 25 százalékos megtakarítást kell elérnie, de akkor sem járt volna rosszul a cég, ha ez nem sikerül.

Mélyebben belenyúltak az Elios pályázataiba, mint ahogy eddig látszott

Vorák Anita 2018.02.20.

Az OLAF szerint a cég emberei már az önkormányzatok uniós pályázatait is az Elios számára kedvező módon alakították. Ráadásul mindez akkor történt, amikor hivatalosan még semmit tudhattak az egész folyamatról.

How Russians forced out Hungarians from a major company of Hungary’s new nuclear project

Pethő András, Szabó András 2018.02.15. 4 Comments

Its managing director, Attila Szitár-Csanádi, is known as one of Rosatom’s most trusted people in Hungary. He has played an important role in a controversial decision of the University of Debrecen, which announced last year that it would give an honorary citizenship to president Putin.