Elios Affair: €43.7 Million Public Lighting Fraud
István Tiborcz, Viktor Orbán's son-in-law, won 35 tenders worth €43.7 million in EU funds. OLAF found serious irregularities.
Key Figures
- István Tiborcz (Orbán veje / Orbán's son-in-law)
- Endre Hamar
- Viktor Orbán
Impact
€43.7 million potential misuse, no domestic accountability
Amount Involved
Elios Innovatív Zrt., co-owned and managed by István Tiborcz from 2009 to 2014, won 35 public lighting tenders between 2011 and 2015 totaling €43.7 million in EU funds. The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) 2018 report found 'serious irregularities' and recommended recovering €43 million, citing organized fraud.
Hungarian police closed the case in 2018, finding no crime. Tiborcz sold his shares to Endre Hamar in 2015 amid scrutiny. In 2024, controversy erupted when Hungarian intelligence agents surveilled EU investigators.
This case exemplifies how the NER system operates: prime ministerial family members' companies win state contracts with overpricing, while domestic authorities impose no consequences.