A former banker in the Panama Papers

Following two former politicians, a former prominent banker has also been named as one of the “Panamanian offshore knights.” An independent conservative pundit blames both left and right for talking the talk but not walking the walk on those who dodge tax with offshore accounts.

After revealing the story of a former MSZP party treasurer (see BudaPost, April 5), 444 carries a detailed account of how a former leading banker acquired and ran an offshore company in Panama. Mr János Erős was CEO of several leading banks, including the state owned Development Bank under the last left-wing government when he spent 50 thousand dollars to buy a Panamanian company and perform a series of financial transactions with a prominent Austrian businessman who owns shares in several companies in Hungary, including Népszabadság, the leading left-wing daily, 444 reports.

In Magyar Nemzet, László Csécsi castigates politicians on both sides of the political divide for failing to tackle the “offshore problem”, although such “tax optimizers” drain public finances. Enterprises should pay taxes where they operate, he argues, but Hungarian MPs, just like their colleagues abroad, only make nice speeches about the problem instead of solving it.

Tags: corruption, MSZP, off-shore