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Hungarian news portal Telex reported that investigators took Matolcsy to the Central Chief Prosecution Office of Investigation early in the morning. Several other people were also reportedly detained, including a lawyer regularly representing companies belonging to his son, Ádám Matolcsy, and an executive of the company that formally owns a Mykonos villa linked to the younger Matolcsy.
“My client is suspected of the felony of economic fraud causing substantial financial loss and the misdemeanor of using a forged private document,” Pál Bátki, György Matolcsy’s legal representative, told Telex.
Bátki said questioning had not yet begun and was expected to take place later that morning.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the prosecution office said it was conducting coordinated investigative operations at several locations in an ongoing investigation into suspected mismanagement causing particularly substantial financial loss. The statement concerned the wider central bank case.
In September, the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) filed a criminal complaint over suspected mismanagement, negligent management, fraud and abuse of office in connection with impairments affecting five properties it owns.
Later that month, Governor Mihály Varga announced that the central bank had submitted a further 30,000 pages of documents to the parliamentary committee investigating alleged abuses related to the MNB’s previous operations.
In early October, the committee questioned former lawmakers Lajos Kósa and Erik Bánki for more than three hours. Both said they had not previously suspected wrongdoing involving the central bank’s foundations, according to Telex.
Bánki submitted a legislative amendment in 2016 intended to prevent information requests concerning the foundations’ spending. Kósa was Fidesz’s parliamentary group leader at the time.
The MNB affair came under renewed scrutiny following State Audit Office reports published in March 2025. The reports examined the finances of the Pallas Athéné Domus Meriti Foundation (PADME), investments by the foundation supporting John von Neumann University, and the central bank’s own operations, including the renovation of its headquarters.
According to Telex’s account, the audits identified serious shortcomings and decisions resulting in major losses. The portal has previously reported that approximately HUF 200 bln was lost through property transactions involving central bank foundation assets.
Investigators and auditors have also examined ownership changes involving the investment management structure overseeing PADME’s assets.
An ownership transfer registered in February 2025 placed Optima Befektetési Alapkezelő Zrt. under the Central European III Private Equity Fund. The fund had been managed by Quartz Befektetési Alapkezelő Zrt., majority-owned by István Száraz, a longtime friend of Ádám Matolcsy.
After succeeding György Matolcsy, Varga ordered an investigation into the transaction and referred the matter to the State Audit Office.
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