He was born to ethnic Hungarian parents in Odorheiu Secuiesc and completed secondary studies at the town's Petru Groza Theoretical High School (now called Tamási Áron).

[1] Verestóy had over 60 scientific works, presented at conferences and congresses, and co-authored three books on chemical engineering and environmental protection.

Although his merit scholarship for studying abroad was approved by a reviewing committee, the Securitate vetoed the initiative.

Later, together with a friend, he established contact with diplomats at the Hungarian embassy in Bucharest, and with their help obtained Hungarian-language mass-media materials to be distributed in Transylvania.

[11] Nicknamed the "logging king", he had significant investments in the wood industry;[12] it was there that he began to build up his wealth, and he was dubbed an "oligarch of the transition" by President Traian Băsescu.

That year, prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Directorate investigated him for allegedly earning €10 million from transactions involving a regional investment fund that he had made as a result of information obtained due to his parliamentary office, but decided not to indict him.