“The only question they asked was: ‘Where, where are your weapons?” They were separated and taken to the Anti-Terrorism Center in Budapest.
The arrest took place a few weeks ago, on March 5th: Oschadbank employeesone of the largest banks in Ukraine, were detained in Hungary when they took more than 70 million euros in cash and gold.
Everything was in order with the documents, the Hungarian authorities on the border with Ukraine were informed in advance and received copies of the documents, approving the trip.
However, the Oschadbank delegation was detained upon arriving at the checkpoint at Chop–Tysa, the border between the two countries.
Bank employees were detained, interrogated – in a clear context between Hungary and Ukraine.
The description of what really happened came this Tuesday from Hennadiy Kuznetsov, one of the bank employees who transported the money and gold that day.
At a press conference in Kiev, Kuznetsov said they were intercepted by Hungarian anti-terrorist police. And then it was a mix of intimidation and tactics hard game.
At the time of the stop, and even after the Hungarian police had seen the documents, the vehicle was seized “by force” by armored vehicles from the anti-terrorist unit.
The Ukrainians were handcuffed and some were left with bags on the head. “The only question they asked was: ‘Where are your weapons?”, quotes the .
There were no weapons. But the Ukrainians were separated, each one went to a vehicle and they all went to the Anti-Terrorism Center in Budapest; there, in separate rooms, they had interrogations “for more than 24 hours”.
There was no support from the Ukrainian consulate, there was no lawyer, there was no Ukrainian interpreter – just a Russian interpreter.
When Kuznetsov refused to be interrogated while handcuffed and with something on his head, the Hungarians said they were going to carry out a “mandatory medical procedure”.
He went to the hospital, where he took injections. He doesn’t know what they administered. “After that, I was taken back to be questioned.” But he felt unwell during interrogation – he went to the hospital, where he was administered an serum.
Kuznetsov remained in the hospital until he returned to Ukraine.
He now reports that, during his detention, his colleagues were subjected to “moral and psychological pressures and beatings”.
And he still cannot say what the Hungarian authorities wanted from the Ukrainian bank employees.
O gold and money remain in Hungary. Order from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán: they are imprisoned for a maximum of two months while the investigation is ongoing. The Government of Hungary alleges that a money laundering scheme may be involved.
The two armored bank vehicles returned to Ukraine – but without the internal surveillance system wires (they were cut) and without the video surveillance system hard drives (removed).
