The Kosher Cartel: Corruption and Deception in Chabad Hungary

Chabad of Hungary: The Empire of Debt and Deception (Part 1)

How billions in public funds vanished into a failed goose-slaughterhouse while the Orthodox community's heritage is being plundered.

Shmuel Oirechman, who heads the takeover and exploitation of the Orthodox community (far left); Bernard (Baruch) Oberlander, head of the Budapest Orthodox Rabbinate and the Chabad-Lubavitch movement; David Lau, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel; Sándor Fazekas, Minister of Agriculture; Máté (Slomó) Köves, Chief Rabbi of the Association of Hungarian Jewish Communities (EMIH); and Yossi Amrani, Israel's Ambassador to Budapest, cut the national-colored ribbon at the inauguration of the Quality Poultry Poultry Processing and Trading Kft. kosher slaughterhouse and poultry processing plant in Csengele, Csongrád County, on July 5, 2017. – Photo: Sándor Ujvári / MTI

By Hungarian Orthodox

For years, the EMIH (Chabad of Hungary) has presented itself to the world as a "Jewish Renaissance." Led by Máté (Slomó) Köves, the organization has become the favored partner of Viktor Orbán’s government. But behind the glossy PR and the high-profile galas lies a dark reality of systemic corruption, failed business ventures, and a trail of unpaid debts that would shock any donor or supporter.

To understand how this organization was allowed by the Hungarian Supreme Court (Kúria) to take over the historic properties of the Hungarian Orthodox Community (MAOIH), one must first look at their track record with public money.

The "770 Million" Irony: The Collapse of Quality Poultry

In August 2025, the leading Hungarian news outlet Telex published a devastating investigation into Quality Poultry Kft., a massive kosher goose-slaughterhouse in Csengele, owned and managed by EMIH.

The project was marketed as the largest of its kind in Europe, intended to supply kosher meat globally. The Hungarian government poured over 2.7 billion Forints (approx. $7.5M) in direct grants into the facility, alongside massive loans from state-owned banks.

The Reality:

* Massive Losses: By 2022, the company reported a staggering loss of 770 million Forints (a number ironically 'sacred' in Chabad circles, representing their Brooklyn headquarters, but here representing a financial black hole). In 2023, the losses continued, exceeding 715 million Forints.

* Ghosting Suppliers: Small farmers and suppliers, who trusted the "Rabbinical" leadership, found themselves ignored. One supplier is owed nearly 500 million Forints ($1.4M). When they asked for their money, the EMIH leadership simply stopped answering their calls—"ghosting" the very people they claimed to support.

* Payment in Goslings: In a move that sounds like a dark satire, because the company ran out of cash, it began forcing suppliers to accept "day-old goslings" instead of money. The farmers, already on the brink of bankruptcy, now have to bear the risk of bird flu and raising the birds just to see a fraction of what they are owed.

A Pattern of Corruption

The Telex investigation reveals that while the slaughterhouse was collapsing, the EMIH leadership remained untouched. While farmers were going out of business, lavish weddings for 1,000 guests were being held in state-funded venues.

But the slaughterhouse is just the tip of the iceberg. The investigation links EMIH-related entities to a complex web of "shell companies":

* Oloesz Kft: A company officially registered for "ambulance services" was used by EMIH to partner with oligarchs (like Shaboutai Michaeli, a close associate of Minister Antal Rogán) to buy an aluminum processing plant.

* The Baross Street Scandal: A massive state building given to EMIH for a "Jewish Theater" was instead used as collateral (mortgage) for a 2.7 million Euro debt to a Hong Kong-based company called Lavamed Ltd. This led to foreclosure proceedings that nearly put the building up for public auction.

Questions surrounding Lavamed: Investigative reports suggest that Lavamed is not an independent third party but rather a shadow entity linked to EMIH's business network. The fact that Lavamed operates in medical equipment—the exact same field as EMIH’s own "ambulance" subsidiary, Oloesz—raises serious suspicions of an "engineered debt." This is a classic oligarchic tactic used to transfer public assets into private hands via fictitious legal claims in offshore tax havens. The auction was only canceled at the last minute following media scrutiny.

Why the World Should Care

This isn't just about bad business; it’s about the hijacking of Judaism. The EMIH uses its political influence to convince the Hungarian courts and the public that they are the "sole representatives" of Jewish life. This "legitimacy" is then used to seize historic Orthodox properties—like the famous Kazinczy Street Synagogue—and use them as financial leverage for their failing business empire.

When a religious organization operates like a hedge fund for political oligarchs, it loses the right to speak for the Jewish people.

In the next part of this series: We will dive deeper into the "State Capture" of the Hungarian Orthodox Community and how the Supreme Court ignored evidence of forgery to hand over a 150-year-old heritage to this empire of debt.