Hungarian authorities detain Viktor Orban’s younger brother

Former Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban at the Balna centre in Budapest during Hungary's general election on April 12, 2026. (Photo by Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP via Getty Images)

Former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban’s younger brother was taken into police custody on Monday, the new prime minister said.

His detention comes as part of a probe into suspected human trafficking and influence peddling committed while the elder Orban was still in office.

The move was part of a comprehensive push by Hungary’s new government, led by Prime Minister Peter Magyar, to unearth suspected corruption and abuses of office committed by Mr Orban’s far-right administration and associated business circles during his 16 years in power.

Mr Magyar, whose centre-right Tisza party defeated Mr Orban in a landslide election in April, has called the effort Operation Cleansing Fire.

Several Orban-era officials, including the former governor of the Central Bank, are already in police detention on suspicion of fraud and corruption crimes.

In a statement on Monday, Hungarian police said they made arrests and carried out house searches in four separate locations in and around the capital Budapest, and had employed the assistance of Hungary’s Counter-Terrorism Centre in the actions since the presence of firearms was expected at two of the scenes.

The arrest of four individuals was part of an ongoing joint investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation and the newly formed National Asset Recovery and Protection Office.

The investigation centres on the alleged use of political connections to arrange expedited work permits for foreign nationals in exchange for lucrative payments.

Police said the four individuals, who are all suspected of “human trafficking committed in a criminal conspiracy for financial gain”, had facilitated Hungarian residence permits for more than 100 Vietnamese nationals in 2024, most of whom had aimed to leave Hungary for countries in Western Europe.

One of the suspects is alleged to have engaged in influence peddling in the acquisition of the residence permits.

Police did not release the names of the suspects, and declined to provide further details on their identities in response to a request by The Associated Press.

But Mr Orban, who remains the president of his far-right, anti-immigration Fidesz party, said in a Facebook post on Monday that police actions against his brother, Aron Orban, were politically motivated.

“I am the target; my younger brother is just a means to an end,” he wrote.

“What is happening in Hungary is not accountability but a settling of scores… In this dirty game, the aim is to eliminate political opponents and establish a one-party system.” In a Facebook post, Mr Magyar said Mr Orban had confirmed his brother’s detention.

Photographs published by Hungarian news outlet HVG on Monday evening showed the younger Orban arriving in a police vehicle at a pre-trial detention facility in Budapest.

Aron Orban’s detention was the latest in several high-profile police actions against former officials or other individuals with close ties to the former prime minister.

In October, police detained the former governor of the Hungarian Central Bank, Gyorgy Matolcsy, for suspected fraud and other crimes.

Matolcsy was one of Mr Orban’s closest economic allies, and is suspected of misusing funds through a foundation set up in 2014 that was endowed with some 818 million US dollars (£609 million) in public assets.

Matolcsy has denied wrongdoing and is still in custody, while an international arrest warrant for his son, Adam, is still active.

In September, police took into custody two former ministers in Mr Orban’s government who are suspected of, separately, criminal mismanagement of 17.3 billion forints (£40 million) of public funds and accepting more than 12 billion forints (£28 million) in bribes and kickbacks.

They remain in police custody.

On Monday, Mr Orban’s Fidesz party added Aron Orban to a list of “political prisoners” on its website.

- Press Association