Several domestic wineries accused of serious fraud

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 03. 12. 10:06

The Budapest Prosecutor’s Office has indicted eleven people, including the head of a renowned winery in Szekszárd, in a major budget fraud case. The people involved tried to obtain domestic and European Union subsidies with false invoices and overpriced items, while also committing VAT fraud. – writes the Agrárszektor.

False invoicing and unauthorized subsidies

According to the indictment, the fraud took place between 2019 and 2021, with representatives of several wineries issuing invoices for fictitious work and non-existent equipment purchases in order to obtain non-refundable subsidies. A significant part of the funds obtained in this way came from the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Program (GINOP) announced within the framework of the Széchenyi 2020 program, which was financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund.

One of the methods of fraud was that the VAT content of invoices with false content was illegally deducted from the tax payment obligation, so the parties involved not only defrauded support sources, but also committed significant tax evasion.

A winery in Szekszárd is also affected

According to information from Telex, a well-known winery in Szekszárd is also among the parties involved, which won a total of 240 million forints in three GINOP applications through two of its companies during the period under review. The largest grant, 209.6 million forints, was used to develop a grape disease forecasting and decision-support system.

The implementation of the applications was supervised by the Ministry of Public Administration and Regional Development, but the ministry has not yet responded to questions raised in connection with the fraud. The National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) is also investigating the case, but has not yet released precise figures on the full extent of the abuses.