Hungarian foreign ministry submits fraud report on $964 million ventilator purchases

Hungary’s Foreign Ministry has turned over a report to prosecutors accusing the 2020 ventilator procurement of fraud and related crimes. Anita Orban, the foreign minister, said the purchase involved almost 17,000 units valued at 300 billion forints, roughly $963.82 million, many of which were surplus models unsuitable for realistic use and bought at inflated prices. An internal audit recovered only a partial view of the transactions, with 130,000 files amounting to 88 GB submitted as evidence.

The ministry claims the number of ventilators far outstripped the available doctors, intensive-care nurses and hospital beds, leaving most units idle in storage. Import and tax authority data indicate the devices came from Hungarian suppliers at costs significantly higher than factory rates. Press officials for the former right-wing Fidesz party have not replied to emailed inquiries.