Hungarian Online Resources

est. 1993 by UMCP Hungarian American Student Association

HUNGARIAN SUPREME COURT ACQUITS LAWYER INVOLVED IN \’PRIVATIZATION SCANDAL\’

Marta Tocsik, a Hungarian lawyer thrust into the public eye over a "success fee" she received six years ago from the State Privatization Agency (APV), was acquitted by the Hungarian Supreme Court on 8 April of a fraud charge but was ordered to pay 400,000 forints ($1,750) for falsifying private documents, "Nepszabadsag" reported. In 1995, Tocsik was commissioned by the APV to negotiate privatization revenues paid by the state to local governments for the sale of land and other assets; she later received an 800 million-forint honorarium ($6.4 million at the time) that represented 10 percent of the amount she ostensibly saved for the APV through her negotiations. Tocsik will now be given back her assets, which had been seized by authorities. Former APV legal adviser Peter Liszkai was also acquitted of all charges in connection with the deal. The former APV board members involved in the scandal have been given suspended prison sentences. MSZ