Before the detention of Áron Orbán, Viktor Orbán’s brother, he had already been mentioned in a case related to facilitating the acquisition of Schengen visas and work permits for foreign citizens. According to the Hungarian press, a company associated with him allegedly enrolled Vietnamese citizens in a two-day lifeguard course organized at the University of Pécs, in order to facilitate their access to the documents.
Áron Orbán’s name became public in 2024, following the broadcast of an audio recording concerning problems encountered in obtaining visas and employment documents, with the investigation also focusing on suspicions that money had been requested and political connections used to speed up the procedures.
At the same time, investigations launched in the new political context in Budapest have also expanded to other associates of Viktor Orbán: former Central Bank governor György Matolcsy was detained for economic fraud and the use of a forged private document, while two former ministers, Balázs Hankó and Miklós Seszták, were detained amid accusations of embezzlement and, separately, bribery.
