Matolcsy, while constantly praising the financial institution he leads, said that the brokerage scandals of 2015 were a part of a coup organized from outside the country with the intention of creating “banking panic,” several online news portals reported today.

Matolcsy said that while unveiling the fraud at the brokerage houses was a success, the events were the result of actions happening at the Budapest embassy of a “big NATO ally,” with the intention of “overthrowing the government,” actions which he said had started in the fall of 2014. However, Matolcsy did not name the NATO ally.

Matolcsy said that the central bank would have uncovered the fraudulent brokerage activities because the “bank was already there at the companies,” but the governor said he believes the timing was important. According to him, the scandal was sparked by a premature uncovering of the activities in order to cause “banking panic,” as well as to use the central bank to overthrow the government, although the governor did not discuss further details, according to reports.

The MNB governor added that the central bank cannot be made responsible for the brokerage frauds as it was the one that uncovered them, news portal 444.hu reported.