Investigations by Átlátszó resulted in millions of HUFs in fines imposed on corrupt actors last year

When asked about journalists’ investigations of corruption scandals, authorities in Hungary repeatedly stated tha they „have no time to media reports.” So, last year, we decided not only to investigate and report on suspected corruption, but also to file official reports on them and report it. This has started to take effect: in 2024, more than 20 million HUFs of fines has been imposed as a result of our reporting.

Many believe that fines imposed on local governments or other public bodies are meaningless, since these are paid out taxpayers’ pockets. While this is true, ignoring serious infringements would just encourage perpetrators to repeat them. Perhaps penalties imposed on underfunded municipalities can act as deterrents and lead to greater scrutiny of the work of local leaders.

Here are some cases where our reporting resulted in consequences.

1. Exactly matched tenders

“24.hu can’t do anything anyway. Neither the police, nor Hadházy, nor you”, the former Fidesz mayor of Nyírkarász commented on a suspected corruption case. He said this after earlier testifying that Sándor Kovács, a Fidesz MP from Sabolcs, had essentially blackmailed him to ensure that his favoured company won the tender. Although the police closed the investigation for lack of criminal offence, our newspaper appealed to the Public Procurement Authority. In December, the Arbitration Committee found 11 cases of infringement, including in Nyírkarász, and imposed fines totalling HUF 8.8 million.

2. One company, hundreds of cases

Last autumn, we filed a report with the Integrity Authority and the Public Procurement Authority after working with a public procurement expert and examined hundreds of public procurement procedures, discovering signs of systemic corruption in tenders won by the company Tömb 2002 Kft. The Authority investigated all the cases we presented and initiated 15 appeals procedures before the Public Procurement Arbitration Committee. The decisions were published in May on the website of the Arbitration Committee, imposing fines totalling HUF 11.2 million on the tenderers.

3. Stealing from the poorest

Due to irresponsible management, DG Social Affairs and Child Protection distributed only 2.3 million aid packages out of 3.7 million planned to be handed out in the framework of the EU-funded RSZTOP project. After Átlátszó sued for the publication of contracts, it was also revealed that the food items included in the packages were overpriced. Together with Transparency International Hungary, we reported the matter to the Integrity Authority, which, after an investigation, filed a complaint for criminal budget fraud and money laundering, negligent management and an agreement restricting competition in public procurement.

4. We highlighted the violations

The Public Procurement Arbitration Committee has imposed penalties in three public procurement cases in which Transparency International (TI) Hungary filed complaints following articles published in cooperation with Átlátszó. The municipality of Sajókaza was fined HUF 400,000, while the municipalities of Nyírbogát and Nyírmada were fined HUF 1 million for their public lighting tenders. All three municipalities were fined for unlawfully restricting competition.

5. Started well, ended badly

The organiser of the Little Miss Hungary children’s beauty contest, Ildikó Bartolovics, has been charged with fraud in the course of a business and other offences. According to the prosecutor’s office, Bartolovics acted as a copyright holder, organiser and mediator of child beauty contests between 2017 and 2018, but did not have the relevant rights or liability insurance. He offered the victims a framework cooperation agreement, in connection with which he requested payments, but did not provide any substantial services in return. Our stories on these cases have helped several victims to get their money back.