Péter Magyar says the former prime minister’s brother was among three men and one woman detained in a 9 November 2026 operation at four locations in Budapest, Fót and Dunakeszi. Investigators suspect the group of human smuggling.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has confirmed that Áron Orbán, the younger brother of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, was detained in a human-smuggling investigation. Police initially confirmed the operation without naming those detained.
The National Bureau of Investigation and the National Asset Recovery and Asset Protection Office conducted the joint raids on the morning of 9 November. The case follows Magyar’s April election victory over Viktor Orbán and the creation of the asset recovery office to investigate alleged corruption during Orbán’s 16-year rule.
Police allege that, over several months in 2024, the four suspects helped Vietnamese applicants obtain visas through Hungary’s diplomatic missions in Vietnam and travel toward western Europe. They charged a recruitment fee per person and shared the money, police said. Investigators say their information so far indicates the group assisted more than 100 Vietnamese people.
Police said the visas allowed entry into the Schengen area, a group of European countries with shared travel rules, for short training courses in Hungary. Most applicants did not attend the stated courses, police said, while some attended but did not leave Hungary before their visas expired.
The investigative bureau suspects all four of human smuggling as part of a criminal conspiracy for financial gain. The asset recovery office separately suspects one man of instigating influence peddling, or the improper use of influence for a benefit. The agencies have not publicly identified that man. Police said they seized devices, documents and electronic data that could serve as evidence in the human-smuggling and corruption investigations.
Rescue crews responded to collisions on the Trakia highway, while about 50 injured people were taken to hospitals and authorities closed the road.
Magyar has made the asset recovery office central to his government’s anti-corruption campaign, which he calls “Operation Purgatory”. In September, the office listed the sale of political connections to obtain employment residence permits among its first four planned investigations. Viktor Orbán called his brother’s detention political revenge and said he himself was the target.
In a later November 9 update, the investigative bureau said it had finished questioning the suspects and placed all four in criminal custody. It is seeking their pretrial detention.
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