Hungary Files Criminal Complaint Over $965 Million COVID Ventilator Deal

Hungary's foreign ministry has lodged a criminal complaint with prosecutors over the previous government's purchase of ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing suspected fraud in the $965 million deal.

Foreign Minister Anita Orbán announced the development on Tuesday, stating that an internal ministry investigation into the procurement "raises suspicions of breach of fiduciary duty causing particularly substantial financial loss and other criminal offenses."

The deal, struck in March and April 2020, involved the acquisition of roughly 17,000 ventilators from China. At the time, the purchase drew criticism for exceeding realistic needs and for paying significantly more per unit than other European countries.

Minister Orbán did not specify the allegations in detail but noted that the investigation reviewed tens of thousands of documents. Some of these files had to be recovered using digital tools "after unsuccessful attempts to delete them," which raised further questions about the accountability of the ministry's former senior leadership.

A government statement also pointed to other irregularities, including the use of intermediary companies that saw their revenues surge exponentially from the transaction. It added that a significant portion of the ventilators were defective or never deployed, with storage costs for the unused devices running into millions of dollars.

The procurement was overseen by former Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, who held office for nearly 12 years and cultivated close ties with China. He also facilitated the purchase of 5 million doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine.

Szijjártó recently resigned his parliamentary seat to take an executive role with Chinese automaker BYD, prompting conflict-of-interest accusations over his earlier role in approving government subsidies for the company. The government has since launched a separate investigation into BYD's large investments in Hungary made during his tenure.