György Simonka (born March 14, 1974) is a Hungarian businessman and politician, member of the National Assembly (MP) for

Mezőkovácsháza Mezőkovácsháza is a town in Békés County, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary. Geography It covers an area of and has a population of 6945 people (2002). Notable residents * György Simonka (1974-), politician * Józ ...

(

Békés County Békés (, , ro, Județul Bichiș) is an administrative division (county or ''megye'') in south-eastern Hungary, on the border with Romania. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Csongrád, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, and Hajdú-Bihar. The ...

Constituency VII) from 2010 to 2014, and for Orosháza (Békés County Constituency IV) from 2014 to 2022. He was elected mayor of

Pusztaottlaka Pusztaottlaka (''Puszta-Ott·lak·a''; ro, Otlaca-Pustă) is a village in Békés County, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary. Geography It covers an area of 18.88 km² and has a population of 471 people (2002). Popul ...

in October 2006, he held that office until 2014. Simonka was a member of the Committee on Consumer Protection from 14 May 2010 to 5 May 2014. He was a member of the Committee on Sustainable Development from 6 May 2014 to 1 May 2022. Due to a high-profile corruption scandal involving him (see below), Simonka announced in December 2021 he will not run as a candidate in the upcoming

2022 Hungarian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 3 April 2022 to elect the National Assembly, coinciding with a referendum. Hungary's incumbent prime minister Viktor Orbán declared victory on Sunday night, with partial results showing his Fidesz ...

Criminal charge

In 2016, the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) launched an investigation against him on suspicion of crimes related to

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

and Hungarian budget funds. In October 2018, the Chief Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit against Simonka and 32 others in a charge of tax fraud in a criminal organization causing particularly serious financial damage against the national budget and other criminal offenses. Upon the request of the Chief Prosecutor's Office, the National Assembly suspended his immunity. As part of a criminal lawsuit that began in February 2021, the prosecutor's office accused Simonka of embezzling funds from the European Union and the Hungarian budget with the help of company networks that fruit and vegetable producers could have claimed. According to the accusation, between 2009 and 2015, 1.4 billion HUF of public funds were stolen by a circle of organized crime led by Simonka. Therefore, the prosecutor's office offered him eight and a half years in prison and a confiscation of 850 million HUF if he admits to the indictment. Simonka did not do that.

References

1974 births Living people Hungarian businesspeople Mayors of places in Hungary Fidesz politicians Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2010–2014) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2014–2018) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2018–2022) People from Békés County Hungarian people of Romanian descent {{Hungary-mayor-stub