The 48-year-old, trained as a pharmacist, served as vice rector of Semmelweis University before joining the first Orban government as an adviser to the Ministry of Human Resources. He became a ministerial commissioner in 2017 and three years later was appointed deputy state secretary for higher education in 2020. In December 2022, he became state secretary responsible for higher education, innovation, vocational and adult education. He was appointed Minister for Culture and Innovation in July 2024.

In social media posts, Hanko is seen being escorted to court by armed guards while holding boxes of papers to hide his handcuffs.

The court said there was a risk of flight and of interference with the investigation, citing the former minister’s extensive network of contacts. Hanko’s former state secretary, Veronika Varga-Bajusz, was also ordered detained in connection with the NKA case.

The case is politically significant because it is one of the first major criminal proceedings against senior officials from Orban’s 16-year rule since Peter Magyar’s Tisza party swept into power after a decisive victory in the April election. Parliament lifted Hanko’s immunity on September 28, allowing prosecutors to question and detain him.

The former culture minister "sought refuge" in Parliament for much of the day, but decided to exit the iconic Neo-Gothic building in the evening, surrounded by his family, before being driven to the local prosecutor’s office. Viktor Orban, who spent the day in Belfast watching Hungary’s national team face Northern Ireland, broadcast the event live on Facebook.

Fidesz has described the investigations as politically motivated persecution, while the party has called Tisza’s decision to pursue a Fidesz MP a sign of arbitrary rule. Its rhetoric has taken an increasingly confrontational and intimidating tone, with references to authoritarianism, coercion and political persecution and, most recently, its description of the newly established National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH) as the new "AVH watchdog", a reference to Hungary’s communist-era state security service established in the 1950s. Viktor Orban called for national resistance against the government and called for the public tracking of employees working for the newly established anti-corruption agency.

In an interview with Fidesz-aligned Hír TV, Hanko denied wrongdoing, saying all 1,087 supported programmes were legitimate cultural projects and calling the proceedings a political show trial. However, contracts uncovered by Hungarian media have raised questions about the timing of the distribution of the funds and their recipients.

The NKA investigation, which broke a few days after the April 12 election, centres on more than HUF17bn released through a special funding programme during the final period of the Orban government. Prosecutors allege that Hanko and his associates effectively decided on grants outside the official assessment process and sometimes before applications had even been submitted.

They also allege that the funds were allocated partly on political and electoral constituency grounds and that some of the money was used to finance the Fidesz election campaign. A well-known musician openly requested funding from the NKA and received more than €1mn for his concert tour, which he used to influence voters. After the scandal broke, many recipients, including Fidesz-leaning influencers and entertainers, decided to repay money received.

Several other people involved in NKA decision-making had already been detained.

Political analyst Szabolcs Dull has described the NKA case as part of the broader reckoning with the former government’s system of political and economic networks. He has also highlighted that the investigations will test whether Peter Magyar can translate their anti-corruption pledges into concrete action and accountability. Tisza, which campaigned relentlessly on an anti-corruption platform, has made accountability a central pillar of its agenda.

There are high expectations among its supporters that politically connected businessmen, or even members of the Orban family’s wider business network, such as Istvan Tiborcz, will face legal scrutiny over their activities.

The Hanko case comes days after former national development minister Miklos Sesztak was also detained in a separate investigation into alleged bribery linked to state procurement and transport contracts. After his immunity was lifted, Sesztak went directly to the prosecutor’s office to give a statement and was subsequently detained.

The former strongman of Fidesz’s junior coalition partner KDNP is suspected of receiving more than HUF12bn in bribes in his official capacity. Daniel Jellinek, the 7th-richest man in Hungary and CEO and part-owner of property developer Indotek, was also detained in the case, along with the former head of state asset manager MNV, Norbert Szivek.

The Volanbusz procurement investigation involves alleged bribery and the former head of MNV, Norbert Szivek, and businessman Daniel Jellinek, who were detained in September. The newly established National Asset Recovery and Protection Office (NVVH) has taken over the case from the prosecutor’s office.

In a recent interview with broadcaster ATV, NVHH head Anna Unger said the office had begun work on three other cases, including the so-called “visa business” case involving alleged influence peddling over work permits and residence visas. The case is reportedly linked to senior political figures and Aron Orban, the brother of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The NVHH is also examining alleged bribery and influence peddling in municipal procurement, including park maintenance and public catering contracts involving several Budapest local government officials. Another investigation covers more than HUF3.6bn in communications and event-management contracts awarded by the former Sovereignty Protection Office between 2024 and 2026 over suspected misuse of public funds.

For Magyar, the cases carry a dual significance: they provide a visible demonstration of his pledge to hold the former ruling establishment accountable, while the handling of the investigations will also test whether the new government’s anti-corruption drive is seen as an institutional process rather than political retaliation, analysts said.