In July 2023, a special birthday party was held at Felix, a luxury restaurant on the banks of the Danube near Várkert Bazár, a favorite spot of government circles. The guest of honor was György Matolcsy, then governor of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB), formerly a close ally of prime minister Viktor Orbán.

Matolcsy, then 68, welcomed his guests in casual summer attire: an open-necked white shirt, white trousers, and a light brown jacket. He greeted his family members with exuberant joy. For example, after a manly handshake, he hugged his son Ádám – who was often featured in the press due to his luxurious lifestyle -, and patted him on the cheek.

Although several of Matolcsy’s colleagues were present, one participant told Direkt36 that it was essentially a “family event” attended by a “close circle of confidants and friends.”

From this perspective, it is especially interesting that among the guests was a man named Bálint Somlai. Somlai, whose hair was slicked back and who is known for his luxury travels and fondness for expensive cars, was notable for his presence because he had long been a recurring figure in controversial affairs related to MNB.

As Direkt36 previously reported, Bálint Somlai owes much of his wealth to deals he made with the Hungarian National Bank. His company, Raw Development Kft., carried out the central bank’s expensive, multi-billion forint Postapalota investment, as well as MNB’s headquarters renovation, which ended up costing hundreds of billions of forints.

Somlai also played a key role in the MNB foundation scandal. In March 2025, the State Audit Office issued a report stating that the central bank’s foundation had suffered a huge loss of assets, which could also give rise to criminal liability. The auditors highlighted Somlai’s role in particular. They found that market competition may have been restricted by the fact that the foundation’s asset manager and its subsidiaries had in many cases concluded contracts worth billions with Somlai’s companies.

It was already known that Somlai is friends with Ádám Matolcsy, but it was not previously known whether he had any connection with György Matolcsy. His participation in the exclusive birthday party suggests that Somlai may also be well acquainted with the former central bank governor.

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We learned about the details of the July 2023 gathering when we obtained a photo album of the event. The album, titled “György Huba Matolcsy’s birthday, celebrated together with family and friends on July 18, 2023,” contains nearly 90 photos, including Somlai and many other guests.

Direkt36 contacted one of the participants of the event, showed them the photos, and they confirmed that the gathering did indeed take place as depicted in the pictures. They also confirmed that Somlai was present at the event, as our source, who requested anonymity, knows him personally.

György Matolcsy at the birthday party.

The State Audit Office filed a complaint regarding the foundation case, but it is unclear whether there are already suspects in the proceedings initiated as a result, or whether Bálint Somlai is under investigation. At the same time, there are several indications that he may be involved in the proceedings.

In early May last year, roughly a month and a half after the scandal broke, Telex reported that Bálint Somlai’s bank account had been frozen. According to the newspaper, the freeze was related to an investigation into matters concerning the Hungarian National Bank. Citing data protection rules, the Budapest Chief Prosecutor’s Office did not confirm this information to the news portal.

In response to questions from Direkt36, the National Police Headquarters has so far only stated that it cannot disclose any further information due to the ongoing investigation.

Bálint Somlai and György Matolcsy did not respond to our questions.

The family and the team

The July 2023 event had a family atmosphere. According to the photo album, many guests arrived with small children, for whom the organizers set up a special corner with toy bricks and drawing supplies. Meanwhile, the adults were entertained by a live band playing special Turkish instruments.

Ádám Matolcsy, who has appeared in Dubai several times in recent years, arrived at the birthday party with his partner, Nicole. The elegant dark coat worn by the central bank governor’s son and his partner’s shiny blue bag decorated with an H logo perfectly matched the luxurious restaurant’s gold-colored walls. Based on photos taken at the venue, the bag was likely a Hermès Constance made of alligator leather, which currently retails for between 9 and 12 million forints (about EUR 23,000-32,000).

György Matolcsy greets his son, Ádám. In the background, Ádám’s partner can be seen carrying a bag that appears to be particularly expensive.

Several figures who had closely observed the serious loss of assets by the central bank’s foundation, based on reports by the State Audit Office, were also present at the illustrious event.

The mayor of Kecskemét, Klaudia Szemereyné Pataki, and her husband, Szabolcs Szemerey, who is a relative of the former MNB governor, also celebrated with Matolcsy. Szemerey was previously the strategic director of the foundation that maintains the John von Neumann University in Kecskemét. According to the State Audit Office, this organization lent 127.5 billion forints (nearly EUR 340 million) through bonds to MNB’s asset manager, a company called Optima, which was then unable to repay the loan.

György Matolcsy with Klaudia Szemereyné Pataki and her husband, Szabolcs Szemerey.

One of Matolcsy’s old colleagues, Tamás Bánkuty, who was an official at both the Kecskemét University Foundation and the Hungarian National Bank Foundation at the time, was also present and clearly enjoying himself at the event. Based on official records, Kecskemét news portal KecsUP reported in June 2025 that Bánkuty was one of the proponents of the bond deal between the university foundation and Optima. The photo album contains a picture showing Bánkuty talking to Bálint Somlai.

Bálint Somlai on the right side of the picture, next to him Tamás Bánkuty.

Several former and current central bank officials were invited to the party. For example, Csaba Lentner, former member of the board of trustees of the MNB Foundation, was present, as were several former members of the Monetary Council, the central bank’s highest decision-making body, including György Szapáry, who also worked as a senior advisor to Viktor Orbán.

Ferenc Papcsák, former Fidesz mayor of Zugló and current chairman of the central bank’s supervisory board, greeted Matolcsy with a ingenuous handshake.

Matolcsy also warmly welcomed Ferenc Papcsák.

Of the guests we mentioned so far, only Papcsák responded to our inquiry. He confirmed that he attended the birthday party and claimed that he enjoyed the company of his colleagues and did not check who was there. Regarding Bálint Somlai, he wrote that he did not know him personally and had never met him.

A familiar venue

Based on the photos we obtained, not only can Felix be identified as the party venue, but also the specific room within the restaurant.

This is the Aqva event space, which can seat 60 people and is advertised on the restaurant’s website as a venue where art and gastronomy meet. This room has been redesigned in recent years, and at the time of Matolcsy’s birthday in the summer of 2023, it hosted an exhibition called “Shaken not stirred”.

All this is revealed in one of the restaurant’s videos posted on social media at the time, and in its description. The video shows that the location of the exhibition is the same as the location of the photos we have seen. The post also mentions that Dóra Molnár was responsible for the artistic coordination of the collection, and another post refers to Molnár as the curator of Felix Aqva. Dóra Molnár, who also appears in the video, is the partner of István Száraz, who is associated with Ádám Matolcsy’s circle. According to a 2024 article published by Szabad Európa, Száraz and Molnár are known in London as young Hungarian art collectors and patrons of the arts.

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In response to our question, Dóra Molnár stated that she was indeed responsible for the artistic coordination of the exhibitions held at Felix Aqva between 2021 and 2025. As her response revealed, the exhibition on display in the venue in the summer of 2023 was “inspired by James Bond” and “reflected on the joys of life.” She emphasized that she did this work without compensation.

In a January article, Telex revealed that another Felix location was the setting for videos uploaded to Youtube by the former central bank governor. According to the article, Matolcsy records his videos analyzing the financial market and different periods of the Hungarian economy in a room called the Kovásznai Salon, which Felix refers to on its website as its own hidden treasure chest.

The article also recalls the history of the restaurant building, the Várkert Kaszinó, which is closely linked to the Hungarian National Bank. As they write, the property became the property of the central bank’s foundation in 2016 and was renovated at a cost of more than 1 billion forints (EUR 2,66 million), after which it was acquired in several stages by the company of György Stofa, a businessman counted among Ádám Matolcsy’s circle of friends. According to the newspaper, the company operating the restaurant, Vízház Gasztronómia Zrt., is owned by another member of Matolcsy’s circle, Máté Pintér.

Citing its strict internal data management and confidentiality policies and respect for privacy, Felix Restaurant declined to answer our questions about György Matolcsy’s birthday party.