Integrity Authority chairman accused of corruption not stepping down, says he is being targeted on orders from above

"My wife was indeed using my personal vehicle for serious things such as going to the grocery store," Ferenc Biró, the President of the Integrity Authority (IA), who is suspected of misappropriation of funds and abuse of office, said at a press conference on Friday morning, adding that he would not resign from his position and that he denies the allegations against him. He also said that he believed it was on orders from above that the investigators of the Central Chief Prosecutor's Office of Investigation (CCPOI) had appeared at the premises of the Integrity Authority, as well as at his own property on Thursday.

The President of the IA said that the accusations against him were completely unfounded and he categorically denied them. He noted that the IA is of course cooperating with other state bodies, but added with a faint smile that "this is not how he imagined the cooperation with the prosecutor's office". He promised that he would remain "at the helm" of the IA and would continue the fight against corruption.

He admitted that his wife had indeed used his service vehicle, but said this was in line with the IA's internal regulations, which allow family members of senior officials to use such vehicles. He also said that he does not own a car of his own, whereas his wife does, but that occasionally, when necessary, she used his service vehicle. He also admitted that his wife had once had a collision with another vehicle while driving his service vehicle.

Biró stressed that in a democratic society, investigations of this kind do not weaken the work of authorities such as the IA, but actually strengthen it. In response to a question from Telex, Biró admitted that his property had also been searched on Thursday, but said that the searches were completely unnecessary and that the investigators had not taken anything from his home. "They didn't know what they were looking for," he said.

Biró mentioned that there had recently also been inspections at the National Communications Bureau, and said it was easy to "connect the dots", but he did not give any specific information on this, as he did not want to " insinuate anything".

The president of the Integrity Authority, Ferenc Biró, was accused of misappropriation of funds and abuse of office on Thursday and was questioned as a suspect. In the course of the criminal proceedings that day, the Central Chief Prosecution Office of Investigation (CCPOI) carried out searches at several premises, including the premises of the Integrity Authority.

According to a statement issued by the CCPOI on Thursday evening, other than his own service vehicle, Biró had leased another, also high-end car at the expense of the Integrity Authority. The monthly leasing fee of this vehicle was initially 475 285 HUF (1150 euros) plus VAT, but this amount 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.

The fact that the proceedings were launched is embarrassing in itself, as the government had set up the Integrity Authority for the purpose of fighting corruption. Its creation is part of the Hungarian government's commitment to comply with the requirements of the rule of law mechanism, initiated by the European Commission. The task of the Integrity Authority is to investigate fraud, conflict of interest, corruption or any other wrongdoing in the use of EU funds in Hungary.