In the 1990s, bodybuilder László Kovács worked for Igor Korol, one of the most influential organized criminals in Budapest. Korol, meanwhile, reported to the Russian underworld's top boss, Semion Mogilevich. According to Kovacs, Mogilevich would sometimes use his services as a courier, a job that involved transferring large sums of cash to Police Chief Sándor Pintér. Kovács says that, in 1997, Mogilevich used Pintér to transfer even larger sums, which were likely used to help finance Viktor Orbán's first successful election campaign. Orban served as prime minister from 1998-2002 before returning to power in 2010. During both of his stints in office, Pintér has served as Minister of the Interior, making him the top law enforcement official in the country. In a conversation with The Insider, Kovács shared details about the criminal underworld of those years, and, with Orbán trailing badly in the polls ahead of parliamentary elections on April 12, promised to give official testimony in a Hungarian court in the event that the country's leadership changes.
#Hungary: “I delivered bags of money from Mogilevich to the police chief, and more for Orbán": Former Budapest gang member László Kovács tells all theins.press/en/confessio... #authoritarianism #OrganisedCrime
