Hagyó finally does not need to go to prison – here is the court decision - nepszava.hu

Hagyó, ex socialist Deputy Lord Mayor, was sentenced to tow-year imprisonment suspended for four years for abuse of authority and breach of fiduciary duty as inciter by the Court of Kecskemét at first instance on Tuesday. The charge of bribery, however, was dropped.

The charge against Ernő Mesterházy (ex political chief advisor of the Lord Mayor), second accused, was dropped by the judicature presiding by Ibolya Hadnagy. According to the explanation of their decision in his case only one act of incitement without result could be established.

If it is up to the prosecutor, Hagyó will be never released

According to the prosecution authority in case of eight accused the charge of continuous breach of fiduciary duty through organized crime is factual therefore the prosecutor requested for their heavy prison sentence and the exclusion of their release on parole in his prosecutor speech.

In case of Miklós Hagyó, Attila Antal, Zsolt Balogh and Miklós Regőczi the fact that the sentence for engagement in organized crime was raised from 20 to 25 years has not only theoretical significance – said Prosecutor János Homonnai representing the Prosecution - when at the end of his prosecutor speech he itemized the charges against each accused and the sentences he is requesting for them after closing the prosecution’s case-in-chief at first instance. According to his opinion in case of Miklós Hagyó, Ernő Mesterházy, Attila Antal, Zsolt Balogh, Miklós R., Ottó L., Éva M.-H. and Miklós H dr. the charge of engagement in organized crime – threatening the accused with double sentence – and the act of causing continuous and extraordinary material loss are well-based.

Most of the accused are charged with aggravated breach of fiduciary duty – some of them are charged as offenders, some of them are charged as instigators and others as abettors. Besides, Miklós Hagyó is charged with two counts of abuse of authority and two counts of bribery committed as an executive official. Besides breach of fiduciary duty, Attila Antal, Zsolt Balogh and Miklós R. are charged with more counts of falsification of private documents, as well. The rest of the accused are also charged with breach of fiduciary duty and falsification of private documents without the fact of engagement in organized crime.

The Magical Nokia-box - part 7

Did the BRFK proceed correctly in the BKV case?

During the trial of the BKV case the accused claimed one by one that their testimonies  - incriminating both themselves and the other accused, primarily Hagyó – were given under coercion. Some of the accused called the procedure a show-trial, others simply described the incident as a political showdown.

Does it mean that before the court the accused and the witnesses gave different testimonies from the ones they had given to the investigators?

Yes, it does. What is more, the testimonies heard at the trial in Kecskemét are in a sharp conflict with the ones given in the investigation period. The vast majority of the main defendants and witnesses unsaid their testimonies given in the investigation period and they gave a new testimony before the court. The testimonies incriminating others were stated to have been given as a result of police threat, in exchange for their release, under humiliating circumstances, furthermore they had been given under direction and coercion.

The Magical Nokia-box - part 6

When did BRFK start the investigation?

Although there were no condemning investigations at BKV before 2008, BRFK entered the campaign in 2010. One day after Hagyó resigned from BKV’s supervisory board Gábor Tóth police chief informed the transporting company about continuing criminal procedure. Police initiated the arrest of Szalainé 90 days prior to the elections and kept on accusing BKV persons. The investigation landed in the hands of Hagyó’s former political rival: György Pető used his position to recruit managers of some companies owned by the capital before the municipality elections, who were supposed to be informants to the police.

There were really no condemning internal investigations at BKV?

Really there were not. Two internal investigations stated in 2008 that all the contracts of the affected period are ok. Supervisory Board accepted the investigation of the Internal Supervisory Department on October 16, 2008 with respect to that those reports contained the entire advisory circle and there were no ascertainments that would have requested further steps to take. The general meeting of 2008 accepted Zsolt Tiba’s report (capital clerk) with the attachments which were reports on the contracts between BKV and AAM Zrt.

The Magical Nokia-box - part 3

What exploded the BKV-scandal?

 Let’s jump back until July 23, 2009 when BKV-scandal exploded in connection with the dismissal pay of Szalainé Szilágyi Eleonóra, former HR director. Hagyó, who was on vacation at that time, immediately ordered an investigation in this case. According to Magyar Nemzet daily BKV concluded unnecessary contracts and paid excessive dismissal pays. Now we are aware of the fact the BKK still concludes these kinds of contracts so far. Of course the press barely wright about this and nobody has been arrested accordingly. 

What did experts say about the necessity of the contracts?

 Nothing. The prosecutor’s office considered these contracts as unnecessary and surplus so incriminated them. The prosecutor’s office did not ask experts to write their opinion. The indictment declared as fact – without experts’ opinion – that BKV’s marketing activity was totally unnecessary as the company was in monopoly position. On top of all that it was Hagyó who pointed at the unprofessional argument of the prosecutor’s office during the court trial. He namely asked the question that “who has transport engineering, metropolis public transportation-logistics and communication or marketing skills in the prosecutor’s office so he can decide and establish such a serious declaration?”.

BKV case: it was a normal contest

The BKV case trial continued with the former leader of the department of investment’s hearing today on the Kecskemét Tribunal. The witness was heard in the count of the C. C. Soft Ltd. accusation. On the hearing he made it obvious: this company made the best offer for the configuration of the passenger informant system.




The former leader of the department started to work at the transportation company in 1974, and in the lack of 10 days he was working there for 35 years, until May, 2008. He led the department of the investment from March, 1997 until August, 2007, when because of the realignment he became to the front of the developmental department. About the questioned period – summer of 2007 – he said that at that time the department controlled 170-180 investments. 

The accusations with the C.C. Soft are misty – reporting from the court room

Not one question came up in the people after the Thursday’s hearing of the BKV case. The technical terms like interface XM 25, data link, guards just fluttered. The court’s and the reader’s situation is not easy. We will try to clear this up, howsoever the situation with the I/14 count seems like misty.





Because of course what just happened in a ”shallow and rough-and-ready” way?

There is a several billion forint project, in it’s maiden name, the whole reconstruction of the Szentendre’s local train, which is proceed in it’s own way, in practice it had to be ready for the fall of 2007. However the modernization of the passenger informant system is dropped out of it, which of course should be do in lightening steps, after all the fall is coming, the school season is coming.

BKV case: absurd mix-up in the court room – Stop.hu article

On the Kecskemét Tribunal they would prove the condition of the local train’s passenger informant system in 2008 with photos which were taken in 2011. From this it became a comical mix-up, but they still couldn’t prove the accusation.




On the Thursday’s hearing on the carpet it was again the accusations of the contracts with the C. C. Soft. The witnesses who were heard were the responsible people in the department of the investment of the local train’s passenger informant system. One of them, F. P. as he said, he feels that in the October of 2007 at the explosion of the media scandal he became in the position like this because he was inexperienced and manageable. He stated that for November, 2007 the testing could start and however a lot of mistakes were revealed, the workers of the C. C. Soft did everything for the insurance of the system’s working. The witness stated in his investigation testimony that Zsolt Balogh, that time deputy CEO of the BKV, took in the decision power. With this he would have support the concept of the accusation but for the questions of the defense he said that from the defendants, no one ordered him to any outlawry or committal of an abuse. Attila Antal, the former CEO of the BKV, in his observation he noted that if F. P. wouldn’t have signed the achievement certification which are in the accusation then they couldn’t paid the C. C. Soft, and then the project would have been stopped which the witness was responsible for. 

BKV case: the local train’s display is on the carpet

On the yesterday’s hearing of the BKV the counts with the C. C. Soft were on the carpet. The court heard two witnesses who were the responsible people of the project in the company’s department of investments in 2007 when the company established the passenger informant system of the Szentendre’s local train. 

For the end of the day it revealed: during their activity they had no sign to the management of the transportation company that would include that the project wouldn’t fulfill.

Coercions, magisterial impositions in the Hagyó-case - SUMMARY

Gábor Tóth police superintendent during the whole investigation of the BKV case stated confidently about the process. He undertook it with name that they have the investigation in their hand and he was talking about new evidences and about conclusions what they got from the investigation testimonies.




Contrarily the testimonies which were heard in the case’s trial in Kecskemét from the defendants and from the witnesses sharply confronted with the testimonies of the concerned in the investigation period. From the main defendants and from the witnesses most of them unsaid their investigation testimonies and in the court they did a new testimony. They said about their earlier, incriminatory testimonies against others that they only did it because of police threat, in the exchange of their lives, in humiliation circumstances, it was directional and under coercion.

Ernő Mesterházy, the former advisor of Gábor Demszky on the court he offended the investigators, he called his brought to justice a recklessly violator process. He indicated that he is standing uncomprehendingly in front of the process against him which, according to him „conception, recklessly violator and it’s obligate to serve a political, human, and financial disable”. Moreover he said that according to the record the questioning was for almost 11 hours but the result was only two pages long, the investigation authorities humiliated him and tried to convince him to say an incriminatory testimony against Miklós Hagyó and if he does it than they will let him go from detention.

Capacity and competence – we report from the court room

The consulting contracts signed by AAM Ltd were discussed again on Tuesday at the BKV case’s hearing.

The last Tuesday hearing was an interesting day in the history of the „strudel dough length” BKV case. The honorable court discussed the count regarding the AAM Ltd’s consulting contracts, obviously not for the first time. Given that more witnesses have already spoken regarding these contracts, but now the company’s onetime CEO was standing before the court.

And he didn’t hold himself back.




For the judge’s question he already stated it in his first sentence that he doesn’t understand how the company lead by him got into this case. In his person he is feeling himself offended that regarding the AAM Ltd’s activities because of the politics and the media, the company’s professional reputation has been damaged. This thought followed through the witness’s testimony.

With the contract splitting, the BKV lost billions – Népszava article

The AAM Ltd’s consulting contracts were discussed again on Tuesday, on another day of the BKV case’s hearings. According to the AAM Ltd’s onetime president and CEO, regarding the total investment the amount of loss can be measured in 10 million forints what they could’ve saved if the BKV wouldn’t have terminated the contract with the company.




The witness was a founder of the AAM Ltd. in 1994, where he was managing director until 2003 and then CEO until December 31 2007, since then he is the president of the company. The AAM finished his first job for the BKV in 1996 and in the following years they’ve been in continuous contact with the transportation company completing annually 1-2 assignments for 5-10 million forints. Since 1999 administrative authorities were also clients of the company, as market leaders they were in the BKV’s prequalification system for 15 years. The company employed 230 people in 2007 from which 140 had 5-8 years of experience. 

The AAM did a useful work for the BKV

The court heard another witness about the contract of the investment made in Subway line 4 on the BKV case’s Thursday hearing. After the hearing’s day it is getting cleaner: the AAM Ltd. did a useful work for the BKV and for the owner, Budapest.




Z.D. who was summoned as a witness was working at the BKV since 1988, until September 2007 when Attila Antal, that time CEO of the BKV terminated the contract by common assent. Since 1990 he was working as project manager, decision preparatory and as a public procurement expert, then from 2004 from the ask of Botond Aba he was leading the directorate of the innovation and public procurement until July, 2007, when after the organizational converts he got into the head of the engineering directorate as the deputy CEO.

Hagyó case: according to a former AAM coworker the analyses for the BKV were necessary- HVG article

A witness considered the analytical and the subway investment screening materials made by AAM Ltd. to BKV – who were associates during that time - useful and necessary on the Thursday hearing of the case against Miklós Hagyó former socialist deputy lord mayor and his associates at the Kecskemét Tribunal.





The AAM signed 3 contracts in 2007, during the time of the accusation with the BKV. In these contracts they undertook the assignment of screening the subway investment, supporting the coordinating tasks of the Subway line 4 project, and also the expert support of the highlighted projects of the transportation company. The witness - who was the leading consultant of the AAM Ltd. during the time of the accusation - firmly traversed those statements of the indictment which says that the company performed unnecessary services for the BKV Ltd.

Coercion interrogations, magisterial malfeasances in the Hagyó case – WITNESSES (5th part) – RELOADED

In the hearings period of the BKV case, which is became called as the Hagyó case, the defendants and the witnesses in the case recalled their testimonies which was the biggest storm stirred. 

A lot of them referred to the fact that during the investigation against the Public Transportation Ltd. of Budapest and against a few former leaders of Budapest there happened several magisterial malfeasances. Ones reported about coercions, others revealed a lot of malpractices from the police during the investigation.

The police documents are bristles from the caveats. The defendants brought the attention to the court for falsely dated, lost documents and for documents which can have the forgery suspicion.




Our blog started a series for the explorations of these malfeasances. On the fifth round please get to know another case’s defendant – which known as the airport bribery- , György Sziebert’s story, observations. 

What are the concrete accusations from the prosecution against Hagyó in the connection with the subway line 4?

The BKV case continued in the Kecskemét court on the Tuesday’s hearing with the count which is about the study of the Subway line 4. The I/21. count numerically is the most remarkable accusation against Miklós Hagyó. Nevertheless that the making of the reports about the project wasn’t even in the scope of the former deputy lord mayor.





According to the accusation the unneeded study was ordered by the BKV from the AAM Ltd. for 50 million forints, but according to the accusation the city hall should have paid for it. According to the indictment in the end of December, 2006, Hagyó ordered Attila Antal who was at that time the CEO of the BKV that he has to get the analysis work done with the AAM Ltd. But about from the indictment it doesn’t come out clearly if the accusation entail against Hagyó that the quid pro quo of the contract should have been paid from other resource, or that the contract per se was unneeded. 

The Indictment

Here you can view the original indictment related to the trial of Miklós Hagyó and the other associates of the Budapest Transit Company (BKV). Since the debut of the trial, the prosecution has altered the charges and other information which make up the indictment. Unfortunately, this most up-to-date version is still not available. Nevertheless, the original charges and the prosecution’s general theory can be viewed.

Hagyó, the AAM Contract, and the Holey Accusations from the Prosecution

image source: http://michaelhyatt.com

The Budapest Metro Line 4 (Metro4) has for many years been a major project for the Budapest Transit Authority (BKV). Once finished, it will be the first fully automated metro line in Hungary. Totaling more than 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), it will pass from south Buda under the Danube River and continue deep into Pest. The project has been notorious, however, for its continuity. Critics of the project have considered its progress slow and its management incompetent; tell-tale signs of government corruption. Those in charge of the project say that a lack of resources and manpower are the true hindrances.

Miklós Hagyó is quite familiar with the project. From 2006 to 2010 he served as deputy mayor of Budapest, and in that capacity he was responsible for the political oversight of the city’s assets. In the trial of Hagyó and the other 14 associates of BKV, the prosecution claims that Hagyó “instructed” then chief executive of BKV Attila Antal to strike up a business agreement with the Hungarian consulting firm AAM, who has a strong public sector track record. The alleged purpose of the arrangement was the creation of an assessment report on Metro4. It intended to ascertain the quality and progress of the project’s “management, the administration, as well as quality assurance activities.” The prosecutors assert that Hagyó was required to present the report to the City Council’s Budget Committee.

At this point, everything seems fairly normal. As usual with the Hagyó Case, though, the abnormalities appear when one analyzes the prosecution’s accusations and methodology.  Regarding the contract with AAM, the prosecution claims in the indictment on page 17 section 21 the services provided by AAM were “unnecessary,” and they caused BKV financial damages totaling 50,093,400 forints (nearly 230,000.00 USD at the time of writing).

Here arises the first question: By what means has the prosecution determined this contract to be unnecessary? There are most certainly no explanations provided in the original indictment. Neither has the prosecution explained thus far in the trial how this contract and the related work were unnecessary.  Besides that simple question, the major refute to this assertion is that the prosecution admittedly neglected to seek consultation from any organization or individual who could be capable of accurately determining the necessity of the AAM contract.

On the other hand, Miklós Hagyó did provide ample evidence for the worthiness of the contract during his first in-court testimony. Perhaps most significantly, though, Hagyó indicated that while he scoured through tens of thousands of pages of collected evidence related to the AAM contract, he failed to find the actual Metro4 assessment report…Let me repeat that: The prosecution did not provide the assessment report of the Metro4 project in the case file. Mind you, this accusation that Hagyó “instructed” his subordinate to create a needless contract with AAM from which he could extort a significant sum of money was one of the most significant reasons Hagyó was forced to endure nine months of hard jail time prior to the trial. The AAM accusation was one of the biggest indicators that Hagyó was an Al Capone-like figure, dictating his less capable minions to do his dirty deeds. Indeed, this questionably “unnecessary” contract which Hagyó allegedly “instructed” his subordinate to create is a major catalyst for the entire trial.  And the prosecution did not even include the report, the primary evidence, in the case file.

Other parts of Hagyó’s testimony strongly support the necessity of the AAM contract. For example, he included several quotes from then City Council members who reviewed the report produced by AAM. Here are a few excerpts:

“It is a very fair, well-prepared report. It also shows that we got a lot of information.”
– Former Minister of Transport Katona Kálmán

“We can thank both the referring Deputy Mayor [Miklós Hagyó] and László Becker [Metro4 Commissioner] that this material was prepared…”
- Dr. Gábor Dancs

There are more which attested to the necessity and value of the assessment report from AAM.  They are available in this section of Hagyó’s testimony. He also systematically explains how he was not directly involved with the Metro4 project or AAM. According to him, the Metro Commissioner László Becker held the reigns for the project’s development.  Hagyó claimed that he was merely the political representative of the project for the City Council.

Despite, these shortcomings in the validity of the prosecution’s case against Hagyó, the trial persists. When I inquire to those who follow the case how this is possible – how a trial can subsist when an overwhelming amount of evidence supports innocence of the defendants – the Hungarians just shrug their shoulders. “It’s Hungary. It’s normal,” is a typical response.

Please visit http://www.hagyomiklos.com to view the original indictment and the testimony of Miklós Hagyó.

Source: http://thehagyocase.wordpress.com

Zsolt Balogh: Perhaps Not the Hagyó Case Spark, Certainly the Fire’s Fuel

Zsolt Balogh: Perhaps Not the Hagyó Case Spark, Certainly the Fire’s Fuel

image source: origo.hu

I have written extensively about the BKV case and the severance payment scandal in addition to the current case against Miklós Hagyó. However, the two cases, though connected to the same company, involve very different alleged crimes and suspects. Since Mrs. Eleonóra Szilágyi Szalai was the original suspect for receiving misappropriated funds, how did Mr. Hagyó become involved? The answer lies within the words of one man.

Balogh entered BKV in April 2007 as an Investment Manager which required of him to oversee the preparations and executions of new projects. A short while later in October 2007, he transferred to the position of Deputy Engineer Manager and Under Secretary to the acting Director Attila Antal. After Attila had fallen seriously ill, Balogh was promoted by the BKV Board of Directors to serve as the Interim Director of the public transportation company in February 2008. According to a source familiar with the public company, there were 15 board directors: nine members from SZDSZ, another four were from MSZP, and the remaining two were appointed by the MSZP government. Mr. Balogh served as the Interim Director until September 2008 when István Kocsis was elected by the Board of Directors to act as full-time Director. At that time, Balogh worked as Kocsis’s right-hand man.

As a result of Balogh’s public accusations that Miklós was involved in bribery and misappropriation of public funds, Miklós was detained by the Budapest Police. Even though no formal investigation had been conducted, the only evidence for the alleged crimes were the public statements made by Zsolt Balogh, Miklós was subjected to pre-trial detention.

While Miklós’s pre-trial detention was maintained without supporting evidence by Judge Mária Szívós, Zsolt Balogh was given full-control over the Public Transport Company in Pécs, a beautiful city of around 160,000 people in southwestern Hungary. This promotion has been noted by many as peculiar considering Balogh’s upper-management roles at BKV during the severance payment scandals. Further speculation has arisen from Balogh’s skeptics since Pécs’s local government is controlled by the Fidesz party.

Source: http://thehagyocase.wordpress.com/

The Hagyó case continued

Newest hearings in the Hagyó case

The BKV case continued with the hearing of two defendants on the Kecskemét Court. H. Iván, Hagyó’s former lawyer and B. Tünde, who is a CEO in one of the company who they had contract with denied their guiltiness. B. Tünde was charged with misappropriation as a privy (assistant/auxiliary in a crime) and with forgery in the case of the copier at the Optimismo Ltd.

In an earlier hearing Antal Attila in this one question admitted his guiltiness. According to the former CEO of the BKV they signed a contract without real achievement with this Ltd., because from the inlet 20 million forints they paid Aba Botond’s (former CEO of the BKV) severance payment. Antal Attila verified this achievement. According to the statement of B. Tünde (CEO of Optimismo) she didn’t assisted in the review of the BKV copiers, another person made the actual work and she even gave the money to that person.

                                                   

(Source: origo.hu)

H. Iván defendant didn’t make another testimony, he maintained his instigation testimony. He objected that the indictment is pen/define in general, whereat it’s impossible to respond. He said it too that they accuse him with crimes what happened at times when he was abroad. He approved this with passport.

In the end of the hearing Balogh Zsolt gave photos to the court, which can prove that the passenger informant system is still working.

Source: http://www.nepszava.hu/articles/article.php?id=614383

Original:

Újabb meghallgatások a Hagyó-perben

Két vádlott meghallgatásával folytatódott a BKV-per tárgyalása a Kecskeméti Törvényszéken. H. Iván, Hagyó egykori ügyvédje és B. Tünde, egy szerződő cég ügyvezetője is tagadta bűnösségét. B. Tünde bűnsegédként elkövetett hűtlen kezeléssel és magánokirat-hamisítással vádolják az Optimismo Kft. nagy port kavart fénymásoló-ügyében.

Egy korábbi tárgyaláson ebben az egy kérdésben a fővádlottak közül Antal Attila elismerte bűnösségét. Az egykori BKV-vezér a nyomozás adatai szerint azért kötött valódi teljesítés nélküli szerződést a kft-vel, hogy a befolyó 20 millió forintból elődje, Aba Botond végkielégítését kifizessék. A teljesítést Antal Attila igazolta. B. Tünde, az Optimismo ügyvezetője állítása szerint nem vett részt a BKV-fénymásolók felülvizsgálatában, a tényleges munkát egy másik személy végezte el, a pénzt is neki adta át.

                                                 

(Forrás: origo.hu)

H. Iván vádlott nem tett új vallomást, nyomozati vallomásait fenntartotta. Kifogásolta, hogy a vádirat általánosságokban fogalmaz, melyekre lehetetlen reagálni. Jelezte azt is, hogy olyan időpontban elkövetett bűncselekménnyel is megvádolták, amelynek vélt elkövetésekor külföldön tartózkodott. Ezt útlevelével bizonyította is.

A tárgyalás végén Balogh Zsolt fotókat adott át a bíróságnak, amelyek bizonyítják, a szentendrei HÉV utastájékoztató-rendszere a mai napig rendben üzemel.