Police in Hungary arrested four people after a man-smuggling investigation and a separate discovery of 20 million dollars hidden in a forest, Hungarian authorities said. The National Asset Protection and Asset Recovery Office reported the arrests following a joint operation with police in Budapest and Pest County. Investigators detained three men and one woman, including the brother of Hungary’s prime minister. Hungarian authorities have also uncovered nearly $20 million in cash linked to an alleged bribery investigation involving a former government minister. The money was seized during a criminal inquiry into former prime minister Viktor Orbán’s ally, former national development minister Miklós Seszták. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said police found and confiscated more than $18 million across the country, with the value later assessed at roughly $19.5 million. Investigators reportedly hid the seized cash in woods, on rural property sites, and inside warehouses. The operation is part of the investigation into Seszták, and it followed searches after Magyar’s landslide election victory in April. The crackdown was carried out by the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH), which said it found and confiscated cash worth more than six billion forints during raids on two days. Seszták served as national development minister from 2014 to 2018 and was first elected to parliament in 2010, representing the Christian Democratic People’s Party. The latest status of the case is that the investigation is ongoing and tied to the wider criminal probe involving Seszták, after the NVVH seized the cash following searches. In public comments, the Polish prime minister said he was reacting to what he described as a string of scandals in Hungary. He claimed that the brother was detained for a people-smuggling case and that 20 million dollars was later found buried in a forest by a minister linked to the prime minister. Officials said they ran searches in Budapest and Pest County as part of the operation. The asset-recovery office said it did not list the names of those detained. Hungarian media also reported that Péter Magyar, speaking in Berlin, connected one of the arrests to Áron Orbán. The Hungarian prime minister responded by calling the developments a political fight and suggesting investigators were trying to shift attention from another government scandal. The investigation and searches were carried out as part of the joint operation, and the four suspects remain under arrest in connection with the cases described by the authorities. Updated 14 November 2026: Added ERR’s report that police seized more than $18 million, later assessed at about $19.5 million, in hidden caches during the Seszták bribery probe.