Owner of the villa in Varese: The purchase of the property was a private transaction and had nothing to do with politics

"The acquisition of the property was a private transaction carried out for investment purposes, and therefore has no political dimension whatsoever," wrote Influentia Kft., the owner of the villa in Varese, Italy, which according to Italian media reports was purchased by a group with close ties to the Hungarian government, in a statement released on Tuesday.

It emerged on Monday that a circle linked to Árpád Habony and Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky had purchased a luxury villa in Varese, near the Italian-Swiss border, for €4.3 million, or roughly 1.7 billion forints. According to the report of the Italian paper Domani, the final buyer was Influentia Kft., which is owned by the private equity fund Progressus. András Balogh, who represented Influentia, is a well-known figure in the Hungarian corporate sector, having previously been a senior executive at Magyar Telekomm who has more recently appeared in dealings involving István Garancsi, Árpád Habony and Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, such as at the Magyar Vagon railway company.

Although the Italian newspaper referred to the property as "the Orbán villa", it is likely that the ultimate beneficiary of the private equity fund is not the prime minister, but rather people close to Árpád Habony. Nevertheless, Viktor Orbán took the matter personally, and a few hours after the articles were published, he announced that there would be lawsuits filed against the "fake news media. "Today, the fake news media came up with the story that besides zebras, I also have a villa in Italy...The lawsuits are coming!" the prime minister wrote.

On Tuesday, the owner of the villa, Influentia Kft., also commented on the matter, issuing the following statement:

“Influentia Kft. is the 100 percent owner of the property. The private equity fund which owns the company does not have and has never had any investment fund holders who have served or currently serve in government positions in Hungary or anywhere else in the world.”

They added that the purchase of the property was a private transaction for investment purposes and therefore has no political dimensions whatsoever. "Any rumors to the contrary are lies. These falsehoods are seriously damaging to our company's reputation, therefore we will take the necessary legal action at the appropriate forums," they wrote.