Gyula Budai has discovered another case of fraud with relation to applications for area-based funding; the Ministry of Rural Development's Parliamentary State Secretary announced at a press conference on Wednesday that he had passed the documentation on to the Vice-President of the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV).

The Parliamentary State Secretary said that the case involved the managing editor of the economic daily Világgazdaság, who according to data from the Agricultural and Rural Development Agency (MVH) applied for area-based funding with relation to a total area of 232 hectares, but with no legal basis. (The current level of funding is HUF 69,000 per hectare.)

Mr. Budai said that he had passed the information on the case, along with the related documentation, on to Vice-President for Criminal Affairs of the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) László Sors on Tuesday.

He reminded the press that, based on a previous report by the Ministry of Rural Development, a criminal investigation into suspected budget fraud is already underway at the NAV in relation to similar circumstances. The NAV is already investigating 4 suspects and over 40 enterprises, the Parliamentary State Secretary indicated.

According to Mr. Budai, "certain individuals" including the managing editor involved, "attempted to incite anti-government sentiment among farmers through these actions". "They applied for funding with regard to areas of land that they had nothing to do with, knowing that this would slow down payments in view of the fact that according to the current system, if more than one potential leaseholder applies to use the same area of farmland, then the requests are put on hold and an investigation is launched into the applicants' eligibility", Gyula Budai explained.

The NAV investigation will decide on accountability in the case, he stressed.

According to information provided by Mr. Budai, the Ministry of Rural Development successfully processed 170 thousand applications before 30 November, within the framework of which 140 billion forints (some 460 million euros) in funding has been paid out to farmers. The eligibility of six thousand applications is still being examined.

Vice-President of the National Association of Hungarian Farmers' Circles and Farmers' Cooperatives (MAGOSZ) and President of the Pest County and Budapest chapter of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture (NAK) Mihály Péter, who one of the victims in the case in view of the fact that the managing editor of Világgazdaság applied for funding with regard to his farmland, was also present at the press conference.

His family-run farm leases 52 hectares of farmland from the local authority in the Pest County town of Bag, he said. He was shocked to learn that instead of the awaited funding, this year they had received a notice to provide and confirm data from the Agricultural and Rural Development Agency. It transpired from this that there was an "interloper" on the 52-hectare area of farmland, which the family works, and who applied for funding with respect to 31 hectares of the very same land. He then contacted the person involved, who subsequently unregistered from the land.

Mihály Péter indicated that he knows of 12 similar cases in Pest County.

(Ministry of Rural Development)