The flashmob in front of a courthouse in Budapest. (Photo: MTI/Zsolt Szigetváry)

Protesters claimed that, under the chief prosecutorʼs earlier decision made in connection with the bankruptcy of the brokerage, only 232 people, with damages of over HUF 50 million per capita, are included in charges against the Quaestor management, while approximately 12,000 people affected are not included and have not received any compensation, according to a report by Hungarian news agency MTI.

Csaba Tarsoly, CEO of Quaestor, and his associates are facing charges of 5,458 counts of fraud and embezzlement, MTI reported, adding that Tarsoly alone is facing 753 counts of the charges.

In mid-June, the Hungarian Parliament approved legislation broadening the definition of “yield” applied in compensation for clients of Quaestor and other failed brokerages to include “income actually achieved”. The billʼs author, Justice Ministry state secretary Pál Volner, noted that interest had been included in the price of bonds sold by Quaestor, thus only that interest credited to investorsʼ securities accounts “cannot be seen as the yield generated by the investment in its entirety”.

It is not clear if this law will increase the number of people being compensated in the Quaestor case.