Based on reporting by The Guardian and ClickOrlando

Wire reporting: (AP, via ClickOrlando)

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said Monday that authorities had detained Aron Orban, 49, the younger brother of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in a people-smuggling investigation^1,3.

The National Asset Protection and Recovery Office, created under Magyar after his party defeated Orban in April, said it and police detained four people and searched homes in Budapest and Pest county^1,3. Police said the suspects are accused of arranging Hungarian residence permits for more than 100 Vietnamese nationals in 2024, most of whom intended to continue to Western Europe, in exchange for payments, including alleged fees at Hungary’s missions in Vietnam^1,3.

Police did not name the detainees; Magyar said three former Orban ministers were already in custody and that Orban’s brother had been taken in as well^1,3. Hungarian outlet HVG published photos of Aron Orban arriving at a Budapest pretrial facility, according to the AP account³.

Viktor Orban, still president of Fidesz, wrote on Facebook that the case was political revenge aimed at him and that his brother was being used as a tool^1,3. Fidesz listed Aron Orban among “political prisoners” on its website³. Magyar has described the graft drive as “Operation Purgatory” or, in the AP report, “Operation Cleansing Fire”^1,3. Separate probes have held former central bank chief Gyorgy Matolcsy and two former ministers^1,3.