U.S. LIFTS GLOBAL MAGNITSKY SANCTIONS AGAINST HUNGARIAN ARCHITECT OF GOLDEN VISA PROGRAM
ANTAL ROGAN IS TOP AIDE AND CONFIDANT OF HUNGARIAN PM AND PUTIN FAVORITE VIKTOR ORBAN
On Tuesday, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control lifted Global Magnitsky Act sanctions against Antal Rogan, chief aide to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Rogan had been sanctioned for corruption in the last days of the Biden administration.
The Global Magnitsky sanctions program, named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer allegedly killed for exposing corruption, was enacted to broaden the original Magnitsky sanctions program beyond Russia
According to reporting from OCCRP, in 2012 Rogan had been the architect of a so-called “golden visa” program, where well-off foreigners could invest in special Hungarian government bonds in exchange for visas allowing the purchasers to live in Hungary. Such programs are a magnet for criminals and corruption, according to a 2023 report from the Financial Action Task Force, a 43-nation group charged with leading global action on money laundering, terrorist financing, and weapons proliferation financing schemes.
Antal Rogan. Credit: CC-by-SA-4.0: Solymari
The program was suspended in 2017 after a popular outcry. A report by Hungarian investigative journalism outlet G7 revealed that Rogan, as head of the Hungarian Parliament’s Economic Committee, violated the program’s rules by concealing information from other committee members before votes to approve new visa holders hoping to enter the program. The practice of concealing information from opposition members of the Economic Committee continued after Rogan left to become Orban’s chief aide in 2015. Days after Orban and Rogan’s Fidesz party won parliamentary elections, the golden visa program was reinstated with a new name.
Reached for comment, a State Department spokesperson, speaking on background, told The (b)(7)(D) that “Secretary Rubio spoke with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto regarding the delisting of senior Hungarian official Antal Rogan from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. This action allows us to focus on the valuable opportunities for strategic cooperation between the United States and Hungary moving forward.”
However, the Global Magnitsky Act limits the bases for lifting sanctions to findings the sanctioned person did not engage in corruption, was criminally prosecuted, reformed themselves or “the termination of the sanctions is in the national security interests of the United States.”
At press time, the State Department had not responded to a follow-up question regarding which of these bases the Department had based its action. At press time, the Department of the Treasury had not replied to a request for comment from The (b)(7)(D).