The Pest Central District Court held a preparatory meeting on Wednesday in a criminal case in which four persons are accused of the crime of misappropriation causing a particularly large financial loss. The first order is loaded Zoltán Varga, owner of Central Media Groupfor whom the prosecution requested two and a half years in prison in the case in May.
According to the indictment, as the chairman of the board of an economic company, the first-order defendant successfully applied for a program whose purpose was to improve the capital situation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that met the conditions. The defendant’s company undertook to bring in 30 percent private funds in addition to the 70 percent state share of the joint fund to be created. The “Capital Fund” established for the implementation of the capital program – for a term of 10 years – acquired an investment in a chemical company through the defendant’s company. When the chemical company entered the sales phase, the “Capital Fund” was also nearing the end of its term. The II. in his presentation, the accused asked the board of directors to sell the share in the chemical company. The I., III. and IV. The accused – aware that no company valuation was carried out in relation to the chemical company – decided to sell the company’s share package significantly below the market value, thereby breaching his fiduciary duty and causing the “Capital Fund” a financial loss of nearly HUF 280 million, to which II. the accused provided assistance.
On June 3, 2026, the court dismissed I. and III. held a preparatory meeting in the case of the accused. The prosecutor’s office in the case of the admission of the accused at the preparatory session and the waiver of their right to a trial
2 years and 6 months imprisonment, 3 years ban from public affairs and a fine of HUF 6 million for the first-class accused,
while III. proposed a 2-year prison sentence, a 2-year ban from public affairs and a fine of HUF 3 million. In addition, he asked the court that the I. order 3, while the III. prohibit for 2 years from being a member or sole manager of a body providing general management of an economic organization, a member of the supervisory board of a business association or cooperative, a member of an individual company or an individual entrepreneur.
Since none of the defendants admitted their guilt and did not waive their right to trial, the court referred the case to trial. The next preparatory meeting will be held on September 23, 2026, while the trial was scheduled for October 29.
At Telex’s request, Zoltán Varga’s lawyer, dr. Gábor Papp made the following statement: “In connection with the preparatory meeting held in the case, the defense counsel noted that he considers the charges against his client to be both legally and factually unfounded, his client refuted the accusations already at the preparatory meeting. The defense counsel noted that it says a lot about the two-and-a-half-year investigation that, at the preparatory meeting, the prosecution requested the questioning of witnesses who the defense counsel according to his point of view, they can justify the defense of the accused.”
As we reported earlieraccording to the prosecution, the defendants prepared the sale of Nógrádi Vegyipari Zrt.’s shares in 2020 without determining the true value of the company. According to the prosecutor’s office, the accused media entrepreneur Zoltán Varga, the owner of the Central Media Group, presented a purchase offer in April 2020 by emphasizing that the real value of the chemical company exceeds the amount included in the purchase offer.
As a result, 99 percent of the company’s shares were sold for 459.3 million forints instead of their real value of 737 million forints, based on the proposal of another defendant, with the supporting vote of the other defendants, thus causing a financial loss of 277.7 million forints to the capital fund. According to the indictment, Varga, as the first accused, and three other persons committed the crime as board members of Central-Fund Kockázati Tőkealap-kezelő Zrt.
Varga previously criticized the Orbán system several times, he also talked about how his newspapers the power wants to grind. A discrediting campaign was even launched against him years ago in the government media, for example in Origo they wrote about itthat Varga’s nickname is “Trükkös Zotyó”. The entrepreneur against the Facts also won a lawsuitand Origo also had to publish a correction due to what was written about him.
Centrál Médiacsoport is one of Hungary’s largest media companies, its portfolio includes, for example, 24.hu, Nők Lapja, nlc, Nosalty, Startlap, Story, Best and National Geographic magazines.
