A decision on whether the two will go home this week now rests with the court.
Hungary’s NKA (National Cultural Fund) funding scandal has taken a new turn. The Bács-Kiskun County Chief Prosecutor’s Office has asked for a milder measure, criminal supervision, for the two people suspected of budget fraud in connection with the NKA case. The two are Mária Gurzó, wife of Ádám Fásy, and the other suspect in the documentary-film strand of the case.
What the prosecution said
Prosecution spokesperson Marianna Bodó confirmed the move to several outlets. If the Kecskemét District Court upholds the motion sent over on Monday, the two could go home as early as this week. The prosecution’s reasoning is that the goals pursued through detention can now be achieved with a milder measure at the current stage of the proceedings.
The proposed arrangement is criminal supervision tied to the suspect’s place of residence, with a duty to report twice a week. Under such supervision, they could not leave their home municipality without permission and would have to check in with the police twice a week.
How we got here
Gurzó was brought into a Kecskemét courtroom on a leash, and the court ordered her detained for one month. The case centres on the NKA-funded documentary series Kéz, szív, lélek (roughly “Hand, Heart, Soul”). According to the suspicion, the two suspects won HUF 82.55 million in NKA funding through a company to make a two-part documentary series. In April 2026 the company accounted for the money even though the film had not been completed. Reports add that fictitious invoices were allegedly used to certify that the first two parts had been finished on time.
Gurzó is suspected of budget fraud causing particularly large financial loss, and of using a forged private document. The documentary is only one thread in a much larger affair, and the NKA-related criminal proceedings involve grants worth more than HUF 17 billion.
Detention was upheld once already. The Kecskemét Regional Court upheld the first-instance decision, so the two were not released at that stage.
What this does and doesn’t mean
The prosecution’s motion is not a decision, and it does not end the case. Three points matter here:
- The court decides. The investigating judge at the Kecskemét District Court will rule on the prosecution’s motion.
- The case continues. The motion does not mean the proceedings are closed. It only means supervision may now be enough in place of detention.
- The prosecution still sees grounds for restrictions. It still considers coercive measures justified, but takes the view that the conditions for detention are no longer fully met.
It is also worth remembering that these are suspects, not convicted persons. They are entitled to the presumption of innocence until a court rules otherwise.
The bigger picture
The case remains one of the most closely watched corruption stories in Hungary right now. If the court approves the motion, Balázs Bús would remain in detention in the NKA case alongside Balázs Hankó, while the other suspects in related matters have already been moved to criminal supervision. The NKA scandal began when an employee of the National Cultural Support Manager approached actor-activist Áron Molnár in April about a payout of nearly HUF 17 billion in NKA grants.
Whatever the court decides in the coming days, this is a story that is far from over.