The amendment proposal was passed on ruling Fidesz’s recommendation, he said. The police have frozen Quaestor bank’s operations pending a court order, but it is unlikely this can be sustained under the current law, Bárándy said.

He accused Fidesz of having hoodwinked the legislative committee, insisting the ruling party’s “pals” must not be allowed “to siphon off” their monies via Quaestor’s bank by taking advantage of the banking exemption under the new law.

He added that the Socialists would submit an amendment to scrap the law. Tóth said that at the legislative committee meeting Bence Tuzson of the ruling Fidesz party said the amendment proposal had been submitted because only brokerages are intended to be punished and not banks in general.

The question arises as to whose money is deposited in Quaestor’s bank and where the 18 billion forints (EUR 60m) the foreign ministry received from the taxpayer to carry out a capital increase in Eximbank has disappeared, he said, adding that it was not for an idle reason that Quaestor’s bank had been exempted from the new law.

Tóth noted that the National Bank of Hungary had issued a final licence approving its operation on Feb.1 after Quaestor purchased Credigen Bank. Budapest’s public prosecutor should be sacked, the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) said, insisting Tibor Ibolya had covered up for the government instead of digging up the truth about the Quaestor brokerage scandal.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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