*Hungary, convoy carrying gold and millions of euros and dollars seized: Ukrainian general also arrested*

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..The [trumped-up? charge is money laundering, sparking a row between #Kiev and #Budapest. The money and gold were being transported in two armored vehicles belonging to a #Ukrainian bank.

#Hungarian officials claimed that the #Ukrainians arrested had links to intelligence services and suggested that the money may have been of dubious origin, while 👉 #Ukrainian Foreign Minister...

..#AndriiSybiha accused #Budapest of “taking hostages and stealing money.” He then accused #Hungarian Prime Minister #ViktorOrbán of fabricating the scandal for political gain ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for April 12.👈

#The #Hungarian tax and customs administration said it had opened an investigation into the shipment, which consisted of $40 million and €35 million in cash, as well as 9 kilograms of gold. It also explained that one of those arrested was “a former general of..

..#the Ukrainian secret services.”

👉 #Oschadbank, #Ukraine's state savings bank, said its staff were transporting cash and gold between #Austria and #Ukraine on a “routine trip”👈 carried out by land due to air travel restrictions caused by the ongoing war. But #Orbán's political office director, #BalázsOrbán, expressed doubts about the shipment: “Armored vehicles full of cash and gold traveling through #Hungary is not how legitimate financial transactions usually work,” he wrote on #X. “The..