匈牙利就9.65亿美元呼吸机采购交易提起刑事控告

匈牙利外交部已就前任政府在新冠疫情期间从中国采购呼吸机的交易向检察机关提起刑事控告，指控该交易可能存在欺诈、违反信托义务及造成重大财务损失 1。

2020年3月和4月，前总理维克托·欧尔班政府从中国购入约1.7万台呼吸机，交易总价值约9.65亿美元 1。现任外交部长安妮塔·欧尔班周二在Facebook发布的视频中表示，针对该交易的调查“引发违反信托义务造成特别重大财务损失及其他刑事犯罪的嫌疑” 1。调查显示，多数呼吸机通过中间商公司采购，这些公司的收入因该交易呈指数级增长 1。此外，部分呼吸机存在缺陷，大量设备从未投入使用，仓储费用达数百万美元 1。调查涉及数万份文件，其中部分文件在“删除未遂”后通过数字工具得以恢复 1。

前外长彼得·西雅尔多在任近12年，曾主导上述呼吸机及500万剂中国国药新冠疫苗的采购 1。西雅尔多上月辞去议会席位，随后加入中国车企比亚迪担任高管职务 1。随后，匈牙利政府对西雅尔多任内比亚迪在匈牙利的大额投资展开调查 1。

Hungary's Foreign Ministry has filed a criminal complaint with the prosecution service regarding a ventilator procurement deal from China during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing suspicions of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and significant financial losses 1. The transaction, valued at approximately $965 million, involved the purchase of around 17,000 ventilators in March and April 2020 under the former government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán 1. Foreign Minister Anita Orbán stated in a Facebook video on Tuesday that the investigation "raised suspicions of breach of fiduciary duty resulting in particularly significant financial loss and other criminal offenses" 1.

The probe encompasses tens of thousands of documents, some of which were recovered using digital tools after failed deletion attempts 1. Investigators found that the majority of the ventilators were acquired through intermediary companies, whose revenues grew exponentially as a result of the transactions 1. Furthermore, a portion of the equipment was defective, and a large number of devices were never put into use, generating millions of dollars in storage costs 1.

Former Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, who served for nearly 12 years, spearheaded the procurement of the ventilators along with 5 million doses of the Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine 1. Szijjártó resigned from his parliamentary seat last month to take an executive role at the Chinese automaker BYD 1. Following his departure, the Hungarian government launched an investigation into BYD's substantial investments in Hungary that occurred during Szijjártó's tenure 1.