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Vultures circle bounty of massive broker theft
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Lawyer Adam Fintha-Nagy has reason to be concerned nowadays, being involved in a police investigation that targets insider trading arrangements that he was supposedly connected to. Fintha-Nagy is a major beneficiary of the suspicious Budapest property deals Atlatszo.hu has investigated extensively, and his previous arrangements are also tied to the Quaestor brokerage matter.
Adam Fintha-Nagy was first recognized by the media as the attorney for the casualties of the K&H brokerage scandal, a massive case in the early 2000s’ that involved fortunes being embezzled by a single broker, who many consider a scapegoat since the records pointed to a multitude of politicians and businesspeople. The matter involved HUF 10 billion, most of which was never recovered. The amount that was, is currently being strongly contested.
The HUF 1 billion that was identified mostly went to a medicine box-making firm, Kartonpack. The company is operating with relative success, despite the fact that its assets are formally under lock from the authorities since the investigation started in 2005. The firm nonetheless seems optimistic about its outlooks, they even spent extensively on new developments. A major stake in the company was owned by a US-registered company, that Fintha ended up buying. The deal was contested by K&H Bank and DBI another interested party
The market regulator National Bank of Hungary (MNB) eventually penalized Fintha-Nagy for his purchase saying it constituted insider trading given his familiarity with the matters.
The lawsuit was carried out although the plaintiffs eventually decided to waive compensation. Fintha-Nagy said they didn’t want shares, they wanted money which they got as a settlement. The majority, 70% of Kartonpack is owned by Csaba Kerek, a defendant in the K&H case. If he were convicted, ownership would fall back to the state, which would nonetheless formally have to give a buyout offer to the minority owners, including Fintha-Nagy. If he were acquitted however, then K&H and DBI would have the upper hand. Although they too could offer a buyout. There is also the option that it is the state that gets bought out. Our sources say that once the lock is lifted on its assets, Kartonpack is a good company with a steady market, hence a good investment target, so its understandable that there is such interest for it.
Fintha-Nagy is also connected to the downtown Budapest real estate dealings that Atlatszo.hu has covered extensively. He too is a beneficiary of the arrangement and is now a property owner. Fintha-Nagy managed to get a great deal for his wife’s jewelry repair business and he also managed to capitalize on the downtown area’s property management practice allowing former tenants to acquire valuable assets at rock-bottom prices. His career path in the district is repeatedlyy linked to the names that have emerged so far in Atlatszo.hu’s ongoing coverage, including former district mayor, currently propaganda minister Antal Rogan.
Fintha-Nagy also served at another company of recent disrepute, as he also worked for the Quaestor investment company that was recently exposed as a major participant of the Hungarian broker scandal. Although his term there ended 10 years ago, the investigation revealed that fraudulent practices were prevalent at the firm throughout its existence, naturally including the time Fintha-Nagy was there.
To continue the list, Fintha-Nagy is a board member at Eclipse, a company that is charged with dodging taxes related to originality certification of vehicles. Many of its executives are currently facing trial. The firm has family ties to Interior Minister Sandor Pinter as well as additional high-profile business connections from the past.
“I get along with everybody,” Fintha-Nagy told Atlatszo.hu when we asked him about his intricate social and business network. Our experience supports this, those that we interviewed about him all spoke in praise of his qualities. He stated that he is unhappy with the tone of the articles that claimed to have exposed him. He noted that he has indeed purchased several real estate assets, but only a fraction of those were in the downtown district and all deals were fully legit. He also denied that he had confidential information in relation to the insider-trading investigation ongoing.
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