Laszlo Kovac, a member of the criminal underworld in Budapest, has made serious allegations about the connections between crime, police, and politics in Hungary during the 1990s. He claims to have personally participated in delivering money from Russian mafia boss Semjon Mogilevich to the then-head of Hungarian police, Sandor Pinter, and that some of this money also ended up with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Kovac, who worked for the criminal Igor Korol, told the media outlet "Insider" that he often carried packages containing tens of thousands of dollars. "I would take a package of 50,000 to 100,000 dollars and deliver it to Pinter," he alleges, adding that payments occurred once or twice a week. According to him, the money was often linked to criminal cases: "A murder would happen, and then I would deliver the money. I concluded that this was how investigations were closed."
He claims the relationship between Mogilevich and Pinter was deep, both business and political. According to him, the police chief could "make any criminal procedure disappear," for which he was regularly paid.
Kovac also describes violent clashes of that period, claiming he himself was attacked when he refused to pay a criminal fine. "They tried to slam my head on the table but didn’t succeed... one of them stabbed me. The wound wasn’t deep, but there was a lot of blood," he said.
In his most serious allegations, Kovac claims that some murders and bomb attacks were directly linked to people in the highest echelons of power. Speaking about one of the most well-known cases, he said, "The biggest explosion in central Budapest was personally organized by Pinter." According to him, murders were carried out through intermediaries and professional hitmen, targeting people who knew too much or posed an obstacle.
A particularly controversial part of his testimony relates to political financing. Kovac claims that in 1997, much larger sums of money appeared. "Large sums were intended for 'Vita'—that’s what Mogilevich called Orban," he said, adding that the amounts reached up to a million dollars. According to him, this money was likely used for Orban’s first successful election campaign in 1998.
He adds that Mogilevich viewed Orban with contempt, despite their cooperation: "That rotten Hungarian lives off my money, he will do what I tell him," Kovac quotes the alleged words of the Russian mobster.
According to his version of events, after Orban came to power, the situation changed. People from the criminal underworld who had previously helped him became a burden.
"With the help of the same Pinter, he quickly eliminated them and sent them to prison," claims Kovac, adding that even Mogilevich himself left Hungary and went to Russia.
Finally, Kovac leaves open the question of possible political influence from Moscow: "I don’t have reliable information, but I think Russian authorities could certainly use compromising materials against Orban."
Kovac, who claims to have been a witness and participant in many of these events, has announced that he is willing to testify in court if there is a change of power in Hungary.