Hungary has overturned previous deportation decisions and a three-year ban on entry to the Schengen area for seven “Oschadbank” employees who were illegally detained in March.
This was reported by the press service of “Oschadbank”.
The relevant records were removed from state registers, and the Hungarian authorities withdrew the previous conclusions about the threat to national security, which were introduced on March 6.
Kidnapping of the “Oschadbank” collectors in Hungary
On the night of March 6, “Oschadbank” reported that seven of its collectors and two collection vehicles had been detained in Hungary. The vehicles were on a regular route between Ukraine and Austria. Hungary said it had detained the Ukrainian collectors on suspicion of money laundering.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, commenting on the situation, said that “the question arises whether this is not money from the Ukrainian military mafia”.
“Oschadbank” responded by explaining that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, all transportation of currency and banking metals has been carried out only by land. The “Oschadbank” collection vehicles perform such trips every week and have a license for international transportation from the State Service for Transport Security.
All the collectors detained in Hungary have extensive work experience — from 3 to 21 years. The valuables in the cars belong to a state bank and were transported from Austria to replenish the cash market in Ukraine. Subsequently, the National Police of Ukraine initiated criminal proceedings into the kidnapping of Ukrainian citizens and their official car.
On the evening of March 6, all seven collectors were deported and returned to Ukraine. The Foreign Ministry said that the men were held in handcuffs and transported blindfolded for 28 hours. One of them felt sick and fainted.
The Guardian, citing sources in Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, wrote that Hungarian anti-terrorist police agents forcibly injected one of the collectors of “Oschadbank. According to Ukraine, it was a relaxant designed to make a person more talkative during interrogations.
On March 10, the Hungarian government issued a special decree after the seizure of $40 million and €35 million in cash and nine 1-kg gold bars from Szczecin. The countryʼs National Tax and Customs Administration intended to hold them until the investigation was completed.
On April 8, the Hungarian National Tax and Customs Administration reported new “evidence” in the “Oschadbank” case and published a video with Ukrainian collectors. Hungary claimed that the video shows a former SBU major general forging documents in a gas station toilet, while other collectors discuss “corruption money”.
The Hungarian side also claimed that the collectors were transporting money that was not in circulation: Budapest links them to several banks and financial institutions in Poland and Gibraltar.
“Oschadbank” confirmed that the money was new, recently printed, and had not been in circulation. The bank emphasizes that this is fully consistent with its legitimate activities.
As for the video, it was most likely found by Hungary on the phone of one of the collectors. When the video was published, it was subtitled in Hungarian with phrases that the collectors do not say. When one of the collectors says “it is clear what you are doing”, the subtitles translate his words as “it is clear that corruption money is visible”.
The video itself is dated back to March of last year, and was filmed near Vienna. During that trip, the inverter in the collectorsʼ car broke down, so they went to print the necessary documents in the parking lot, where there was electricity. It was the process of signing these documents that was filmed.
After the elections and the change of government on May 6, Hungary returned the money to “Oschadbank". It was $40 million, €35 million, and 9 kilograms of gold.
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