Any legal person who fails to fulfill its obligation to pay into the budget, and thereby misleads the State, makes an false statement, or suppressed known fact, commits budget fraud [§.396 Criminal Code]. Budget fraud is realized by the illegal cut of budget resources. In other words, the perpetrators gain wealth in such a way that they reduce the amount of the established payment obligation [e.g. tax, contribution, customs, other public dues] with illegal, deliberate [conscious] behavior [or completely avoid payment, or use illegal recovery, discount, refund], but it can also be implemented by using the resources from the budget differently from the approved purpose.

 

The crime of budget fraud investigations are initiated based on a report from the Tax Authority in 98% of cases. If the Tax Authority orders a temporary insurance measure or an insurance measure, in that case it is assumed that the taxpayer's intention was aimed at tax evasion. In the event of reasonable suspicion, the Tax Tuthority will report the facts of the offense to the investigative body of the NTCA with an internal transcript, of which the taxpayer will not be notified.

 

In relation to crimes committed in the context of budget fraud, the Investigative Authority uses discreet surveillance, such as secret monitoring of an information system, discreet home search, discreet surveillance of a place, discreet knowledge of a shipment, wiretapping. Mass suspicions, coercive measures affecting personal freedom, custody, arrest, home search, seizure and imprisonment, as well as based on the Act. CIV of 2001 on criminal law measures applicable to legal persons during an open investigation, e.g. seizure, restriction of activity, fines and a criminal note on the company certificate.

 

Additional offenses of budget fraud are the use of a forged private document [§.345 Criminal Code], money laundering [§.399 Criminal Code], and more recently embezzlement [§.372 Criminal Code]. In terms of the circle of perpetrators, the CEO [objective responsibility], the financial administration, the accountant and, if the legal relationship was made using false contracts, then the legal administrations are typically suspected as perpetrators. Organized crime [the criminal association, criminal organization] and the commercial scale nature are also typical. The classification of the crime is determined by the criminal value of the offense [the amount of loss caused to the budget], and the sentence items are adjusted to this and to the configuration of the offence.

 

Budget fraud is usually indictable by up to three years in prison. The sentence is imprisonment from one to five years, if the budget fraud causes a substantial financial loss [five million to one and fifty million forints], or the budget fraud specified in the basic case is committed in criminal association with accomplices or on a commercial scale. The penalty is imprisonment from two to eight years, if the budget fraud causes a particularly considerable financial loss [fifty million to one and five hundred million forints], or the budget fraud causing a substantial financial loss is committed in criminal association with accomplices or on a commercial scale. The penalty is five to ten years imprisonment if the budget fraud causes a particularly substantial financial loss [over five hundred million forints], or the budget fraud causing a particularly considerable financial loss is committed in criminal association with accomplices or on a commercial scale.

 

A criminal association is formed when two or more persons commit offenses in an organized manner or agree to do so and attempt to commit at least one crime, but no criminal organization is formed. Whoever commits the crime in a commercial scale manner is someone who seeks to make a regular profit by committing offenses of the same or similar nature.