Head of Integrity Authority questioned, suspected of using the organisation's money for private purposes, criminal proceedings launched

The president of the Hungary’s Integrity Authority, Ferenc Bíró has been charged with misappropriation of funds and abuse of office by Hungary's Central Chief Prosecution Office of Investigation (CCPOI).

In a statement issued on Thursday morning, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said that a criminal investigation was under way at the Integrity Authority. In the criminal investigation, which was launched after the Investigating Prosecutor General's Office received certain information, searches were carried out at several locations, including the Integrity Authority, during the day on Thursday.

We understand that investigators spent almost the entire day at the Integrity Authority's Offices. The Integrity Authority had planned for Bíró to hold a press conference sometime in the afternoon, but this did not materialise as the "criminal investigation" lasted all day and by evening, the President of the Authority was reportedly already at the Central Chief Prosecution Office of Investigation, where he was accused.

Although we have not yet been able to obtain details of the criminal proceedings, we were able to speak with multiple sources. Several of them have confirmed to Telex that Bíró's wife is suspected of having used a car leased by the Integrity Authority for private purposes. There is allegedly a trace of this due to an accident.

The CCPOI issued a statement on Thursday evening, according to which, in addition to his own high-end service vehicle, Bíró is suspected of having leased another car. The initial monthly lease fee was 475,285 forints (1150 euros) plus VAT, which was later increased. "By violating the regulation on asset management, the chairman of the Integrity Authority caused a financial loss of nearly HUF 14 million (33,000 euros) to the Integrity Authority," they wrote.

In addition, the statement further says that with the goal of excluding the other two members of the Board (his deputies, who were also selected after tendering, and received their appointment from the president) from exercising their legal rights, the President of the Integrity Authority had restricted some of their competences contrary to the law, while at the same time exercising his authority in public office arbitrarily. The communication does not, however, go into details about this.

A source with insight into the internal affairs of the Integrity Authority told Telex that they were not surprised that Bíró was under investigation. They explained this by the fact that the chairman had a lot of conflicts within the organisation, which led to a high turnover of staff, which led to the departure of several employees who had insight into the accounts and finances. According to a source familiar with the internal relations within the organisation, these people may also have 'passed on' information to the authorities.

Naturally, Telex has contacted Ferenc Bíró by phone on Thursday in order to request a comment on all the information we have gathered. Although we were able to speak with one of his colleagues, they were not able to provide any details, and we were unable to reach Bíró himself.

The case is particularly embarrassing because the Integrity Authority's code of ethics sets out fairly strict standards for its staff, including the chairman.

"Not only does one have to be above reproach, one should also look like it. Those who are fighting corruption must be irreproachable. Just like its staff, the activities of the Integrity Authority must meet the highest standards of integrity and impartiality. Absolute integrity is the least we can do in service to our country," the code reads.

It is not by chance that the code is so strongly worded. The Integrity Authority was set up by the Hungarian government to fight corruption, and its creation is one of the commitments the government has made in order to comply with the requirements of the rule of law conditionality.

Ferenc Bíró was appointed by the President of the State Audit Office, László Windisch, through an application procedure.

The task of the Integrity Authority is to investigate fraud, conflict of interest, corruption or other wrongdoing in the use of EU funds in Hungary. As the Authority was set up to protect Hungarian and European taxpayers' money, it reports to the European Commission and the Hungarian Parliament.

He came from the financial sector

Born in 1974, Ferenc Bíró didn't have a public administration background, but came from the world of finance. Before being appointed as head of the Authority, he worked as a partner at PwC Central & Eastern Europe, leading teams in fact-finding investigations and compliance services in Hungary and neighbouring countries, including Romania and the Balkans. Prior to that, he worked for Ernst & Young, KPMG, Bristol Myers Squibb and Avery Dennison.

The appointment of Ferenc Bíró as the head of the Authority was carried out as follows: Balázs Dencső, Director General of the government's Directorate-General for Auditing European Funding (EUTAF), selected three people for the eligibility committee. They were able to propose and comment on the most senior candidates for the Integrity Authority, i.e. the chair and the deputy chair – the candidates who had been shortlisted for these positions from the public call for applications. The role of the members of the committee was relatively limited, as the final decision was made by László Windisch based on his own evaluation criteria, and they were then appointed by the then Head of State, Katalin Novák.

According to his publicly available asset declaration, Bíró owns several rural, agricultural properties, but does not own a valuable car, nor does he own any property in Budapest.

In an interview he previously gave to Telex, when asked why he had applied for the chairmanship of the Integrity Authority in the autumn of 2022, he said it was "for reasons of conscience and service".

In the same interview, he remarked that the Integrity Authority would cost money, but that as its leader, he would do his utmost to ensure that "every euro cent of EU taxpayers' money is spent properly".

"Why was the institution set up? To put it bluntly, I don't care what the motivation was. What interests me is that it should be an autonomous authority with powers and a guaranteed ability to operate independently"

– he said in the same interview.

At the time, he also said that "where there is power and money, there will always be temptation, but one must try to push back".

"This is something that will hopefully not only bring together the opposition but also integrate government and non-government actors," he said about the fight against corruption. "Inevitably, there are interests that will be damaged, but we are basically working with numbers, not people, with risk assessment, with cases," he reasoned at the time.

He took a swipe at one of the government's favourite advertising firms in a statement

In 2022-2023, the Integrity Authority launched only 15 investigations, but in 2024 that number increased to 33, 23 of which were still ongoing last December. The volume of EU funds audited had also increased significantly: the cases that were closed by 2023 concerned a total of 57 billion forints, while the still ongoing investigations now cover 171 billion forints.

Among other things, the Integrity Authority has investigated the asset declarations of board members of foundations operating universities, and in 2024, they looked into the use of €171 billions of EU funds – including projects that support those in need.

Last fall, Bíró issued a statement criticising one of the government's favourite advertising companies and announced that he would challenge a – in his view unlawful and unprofessional – decision of the Public Procurement Arbitration Committee in court. He said that the decision of the Arbitration Committee to annul the Authority's public procurement procedure for communications, following an appeal by New Land Media, was unfounded.

“I find it regrettable that one of Hungary's biggest media agencies, which has been artificially fattened up with taxpayers' money, is apparently better at abusing the public procurement system than it is at PR.”

– Ferenc Biró wrote in a statement at the time.

The case that could be an embarrassment for many

The case against Ferenc Biró is unique because it could be politically embarrassing for several actors at the same time.

It could be an embarrassment for the government, because Bíró was basically appointed by a public official, Windisch, even if Bíró had to apply for the position.

And it could be an embarrassment for the Integrity Authority, because regardless of what Bíró is actually guilty of, it could easily discredit an organisation which is officially fighting corruption.

Update:

After the publication of our article, Ferenc Biró issued a statement, in which he writes:

"The allegations of misappropriation and abuse of office are unfounded and I have lodged a complaint against them. Today was about specifically attacking me as a person and through this the Integrity Authority. I can assure everyone that the Authority will continue to do its work in the same way as it has in the past: our organisation has always operated and continues to operate in accordance with the highest ethical and legal standards.

Additionally, the law that established the Integrity Authority stipulates cooperation with the Public Prosecutor's Office, and I will fully comply with this and will ensure full transparency."