A member of Hungary’s ruling party introduced a bill to arrest the confiscated valuables belonging to Oschadbank

A member of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, Máté Kocsis, has submitted a bill to parliament that, if adopted, would allow the money and gold seized from Ukrainian cash-in-transit guards to remain under arrest until the investigation is completed.

The text of the document has been published on the website of Hungary’s parliament.

Kocsis said that much about the case of the “scandalous Ukrainian gold convoy” still remains unclear.

“Given that the origin, destination, purpose of use and intended end use of the unusually large amount of cash and gold, as well as the legal basis for transporting it in Hungary, could not be established on the spot, and that the transport was not carried out in accordance with standard international practice… it is necessary to clarify their possible use in Hungary, the purpose of that use, and its impact on national security. The aim of the law is to ensure a satisfactory clarification of the origin, destination, purpose of use, and intended end use of the assets being held,” Kocsis explained.

He proposes that the assets be treated as confiscated until the end of the investigation by the National Tax and Customs Administration.

Hungarian media report that parliament will consider the bill under an expedited special procedure.

As a reminder, today Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said that the detained Oschadbank cash-in-transit guards were treated harshly. Ukraine denies Hungary’s money-laundering allegations and says this was a routine transport of currency and gold, which has been carried out regularly since the start of the full-scale war.