Borvendég Zsuzsanna: Fabulous Spy Games. How international trade networks with the West developed after 1945 - A Magyarságkutató Intézet Kiadványai 24. (Budapest, 2021)
ATTACK ON THE OMFB - Storm clouds
ATTACK ON THE OMFB ATTACK ON THE OMFB Storm clouds During the investigation against Emil Hoffmann, counterintelligence gathered plenty of condemning information on the Hungarian relations of the West German businessman. The investigators ultimately had to close the case against ‘Fabulous without conclusion. Since they could not hold Hoffmann to account, they could only have him expelled from the country with great difficulty. The thousands of pages of reports, and the tapped phones and surveillance, however, brought the spotlight down on the OMFB, János Sebestyén and his close, trusted people to be precise, whose illegal activities were very well-documented in the information gathered. The investigation, therefore, continued due to confidential information leaked on the Comecon, the business deals reeking of corruption, and the undue gains obtained in the process, but state security ran up against the same difficulty: the key players were untouchable. Instead, Sebestyént right-hand man, Endre Simon, became the eminent target of the investigation as the scapegoat sacrificed by the foreign trade lobby and thrown to counterintelligence to keep them busy, thereby ensuring that the network could essentially continue to operate undisturbed. Counterintelligence had been gathering condemning evidence against Simon up until 1973, when he was eventually brought to trial. Under the code-name of ‘Fabian, the target Endre Simon knew Sebestyén back from the Ministry of Heavy Industry. They were already in close contact during his posting to Frankfurt and Simon blindly followed the instructions of the engineer he simply called Boss right until he was arrested. After the OMFB was established, he was in charge of import matters and “established and maintained extensive relations with Hungarian experts in senior positions in technical, 153
