The head of the Budapest public utilities holding, Imre Martha, who has silently accumulated hundreds of millions of euros in wealth in recent years, has become the focal figure of a scandal erupting in the past weeks in Hungary. The Metropol newspaper obtained documents based on which the experts asked estimate the CEO's wealth at 140-165 million euros.

Mockingly called “Gyurcsany’s pet underling” after the former prime minister, the head of the holding likes to show off his wealth including trips on yachts, 5 thousand-dollar hotel rooms, a 5.5-million villa in Budapest’s elite district, bought from Jozsef Prisztas, a well-known member of the criminal underworld, and his other staggeringly expensive properties. His opulent lifestyle has stirred quite a scandal. V4NA also reported that while the municipality is cutting jobs and laying off hundreds of people from the merged utility companies, Imre Martha’s ostentatious lifestyle irritates his intimidated employees who fear being sacked.

According to documents submitted to the daily Metropol, Imre Martha has recently „brought together” a real estate empire on par with that of US billionaires, on who-knows-what sources of income.

Criminal proceedings against him in 3 different cases

Metropol’s sources have repeatedly called attention to the criminal proceedings launched back when Mr Martha was the CEO of the Hungarian electricity provider, a position courtesy of former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyursany. They write that Martha started to accumulate his wealth at this time, which continued as the leader of the municipal public utilities holding.

As is well known, Imre Martha had previously been prosecuted in three cases. One of those was the purchase of the Hungarian electric company headquarters building at a disproportionately excessive price, the second was a billion-dollar deal in conjunction with a wind farm, and the third a large-scale investment project in Serbia. Police investigations had been launched into these cases, but were later abruptly and inexplicably terminated. According to Metropol, the statute of limitations on these alleged crimes have not yet lapsed due to various investigative actions.

The villa in the elite district is only the „tip of the iceberg”

The documents sent to Metropol suggest that all that has come into view regarding the wealth of „Gyurcsany’s pet underling”, including the 5.5 million-euro villa bought from Mr Prisztas, is only the tip of the iceberg.

The villa Imre Martha lives in was bought from mobster Jozsef Prisztas’s family and is worth 5.5 million euros

The top chief of the capital’s holding providing street cleaning, central heating, funeral services, park maintenance and chimney sweeping, concealed hundreds of millions of euros in real estate in a company called LAZAR HOUSES, led by him and owned by his immediate relatives.

SOURCE: METROPOL

Nothing is clickable on the company listing interface, it only displays the address of the company’s headquarters and a telephone number which is answered by Imre Martha’s mother, despite the fact that according to company documents she no longer has any connection to the company (she had been, however, previously listed as one of the owners).

The company, purportedly engaged in real estate development, does not have any available references, and the on-line search does not show any actual activity. The experts interviewed believe that it may be a shell company used to cover up Martha’s real estate assets worth millions of euros.

Mr Martha’s family company owns at least 30 high-end properties

Montage: METROPOL

According to the available company documents, the company headed by the Budapest utilities chief owns at least 30 high-end properties, including several apartments in prime locations in Budapest (in these districts real estate price per square metre is well over 2,700 euros), another valuable property in the town of Veszprem, dozens of rural properties, including a large number of liquor stores(!). According to its latest balance sheet data, the total value of current assets alone is close to 2.21 million euros, but the magnitude of the real estate empire is most likely many times this amount.

Covering up his tracks upon his appointment?

The exact reason is not known, but practically on the same day that Gergely Karacsony appointed Imre Martha to head the most important Budapest utility companies, the family real estate company led by him unexpectedly, from one day to the next, liquidated and removed 8 sites from the company register. It is as if they were trying to quickly make some traces difficult to uncover. It also gives food for thought that some of these sites were located close to the border with the Ukraine, for example in Damoc, Lacacseke, and Pacin.

He also owns the Balatonalmadi marina

The real estate company Lazar Houses is not the only precious gem in the Martha empire. The capital’s public utility boss also controls and is the primary owner of the multi-million euro Balatonalmadi marina through a joint stock company.

He is the sole independent registered manager of Vitorlas Kikoto Zrt, the company’s golden shareholder and its biggest owner as a private individual and through Lazar Houses, the real estate company he controls. This means that his management and ownership rights over the port are doubly secured.

He also keeps his yacht there

Naturally, the marina is also where Mr Martha keeps his own yacht, the value of which is practically negligible compared to his other assets. According to experts interviewed by Metropol, the custom-built yacht could be worth at most 69-82 thousand euros.

The top manager does not shy away from regularly posting provocative photos on his yacht, often depicting himself in a pair of swimming trunks.

He also owns an 828,000-euro villa at Lake Balaton

The list does not end there. There has been no mention of the Balaton villa of the Budapest utility company chief yet, which is estimated to be worth at least 828,000 euros.

In Alsoors, where the 500-square-metre luxury property is located, the price per square metre of similar buildings is between 1,800 and 2,200 euros.

Private eye in action: Who is leaking information?

According to Metropol, Mr Martha, enlisting the help of a private investigator, is still trying to find out who has been leaking and making his provocative posts widely available to the employees of the capital’s utility companies.

Since the scandal broke out at the end of December, 54 of his followers have been blocked by the top manager, who refuses to give any comments on the case in a personal capacity, but protested against the nickname “Gyurcsany’s pet underling” in an official press communique put out by the utility company holding (!).

Mayor Gergely Karacsony, who appointed Mr Martha, has also been silent about the scandal.