The US has placed Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff under sanctions for alleged corruption, the highest-ranking Hungarian official to be blacklisted since the fall of Communism.

A senior Hungarian government official close to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was on Tuesday hit with U.S. sanctions for his alleged involvement in corruption in Hungary.

The US placed sanctions on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s influential cabinet chief for his alleged role in corruption, just days before Orban’s ally Donald Trump takes over in the White House.

Antal Rogan is the first high-ranking Hungarian official sanctioned by the U.S. under the Magnitsky Act, which targets individuals involved in serious human rights abuses and corruption.

The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on Antal Rogan, a senior Hungarian government official and one of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's closest associates. Source: a statement by the US Treasury Department,