Authored by Chris Summers via The Epoch Times,
Hungary has detained one of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban's brothers during an investigation into the smuggling of illegal immigrants from Vietnam.
"Three out of the ex-ministers of Orban are already in custody," Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Monday in Berlin. "Already his brother today went to custody."
Hungary's National Asset Protection and Recovery Office (NVVH) said in a statement that it had detained four people and searched several homes in Budapest and the nearby towns of Fot and Dunakeszi. However, it did not name any of them.
Orban responded on social media, saying it was part of a "witch hunt" against him.
"Today, the government should be held to account before the National Security Committee over its handling of the communist-era secret police archives," Orban wrote on X on Monday.
"However, instead of facing scrutiny, it is using political persecution to divert attention.
"What is happening in Hungary is not accountability. It is a political witch hunt.
"The aim of this dirty political game is to eliminate opponents and establish a one-party state."
In a statement, NVVH said Hungary's National Investigation Bureau (NNI) - which tackles organized crime - believes the four suspects "may have been involved in the entry of Vietnamese citizens into the Schengen area over several months in 2024."
The Schengen area includes all of the European Union - except Ireland and Cyprus - plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
"It is suspected that the group members helped to obtain visas at Hungarian missions abroad, for which they charged a recruitment fee per person," NVVH said.
"The proceeds were shared among the alleged perpetrators.
"According to current NNI data, the suspects may have provided assistance to more than a hundred Vietnamese citizens."
NVVH said that, in some cases, the Vietnamese nationals applied for visas, stating they would do "short-term training" in Hungary.
According to the NVVH, Hungarian police said the majority of the Vietnamese immigrants did not participate in any short-term training in Hungary, and intended to travel on to Western Europe.
NVVH also said that one of those who had been arrested was also being questioned about alleged "influence peddling."
"The suspect, citing his political connections and presumed influence, sought an unlawful advantage from the manager of a labor-sharing company through an intermediary," the NVVH statement stated.
"In return, he allegedly promised to intervene to ensure that the company was returned to the register of priority employers."
It was not immediately clear whether those arrested had legal representatives who could comment on their behalf.
After 16 years in power, Orban's Fidesz-KDNP alliance lost an April election, and Magyar became prime minister after his Tisza party won the most seats in parliament.
A former Fidesz insider and trained lawyer who spent years as a Hungarian diplomat in Brussels, Magyar ran on a platform that combined an anti-corruption message with migration positions that sit well to the right of mainstream European opinion.
Magyar established NVVH after he came to power and said it was central to his government's anti-corruption campaign, which he has called "Operation Purgatory."