Austrian investor sentenced Two years in prison for Signa founder René Benko
Two years in prison for the former billionaire: René Benko has been sentenced for the first time in connection with the Signa insolvency.
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- René Benko was sentenced to two years in prison for damaging creditors because he gave away 300,000 euros to his mother.
- The verdict is not yet final.
- The conviction is part of a broad series of investigations in connection with the insolvency of Signa.
Austrian investor René Benko has been sentenced to two years in prison for harming his creditors. A panel of lay judges at the Innsbruck Regional Court ruled that the 48-year-old ex-billionaire had misappropriated assets by making a gift of 300,000 euros to his mother. Benko was acquitted in the case of an advance rent payment of 360,000 euros. The verdict is not legally binding.
One of many lines of investigation
In the case, Benko had to answer for his insolvency as a sole trader. The indictment is just one of a total of 14 proceedings in which the Austrian judiciary alone is mostly investigating serious fraud and breach of trust.
The proceedings are seen as the start of a possible series of trials surrounding the biggest bankruptcy in Austria's recent history. In the fall of 2023, the real estate and retail conglomerate Signa, consisting of more than 1130 companies, gradually slipped into insolvency. Rising interest rates and its own mistakes had undermined the Signa business model.
The creditors' total claims against the Signa holding company and its individual companies are in the billions of euros.
Benko had also made headlines in Germany with the purchase of the Kaufhof and Karstadt department store groups. In retrospect, the entry into stationary retail is considered one of the negative factors for Signa's business.
Benko was a multiple billionaire
The Tyrolean's fall from grace is deep. In his heyday, Benko's fortune was estimated at almost five billion euros. His career as a real estate specialist began when he was still at school in Innsbruck. Back then, he didn't do his A-levels, but instead converted attics. The school dropout also had great powers of persuasion. He succeeded in bringing major investors on board Signa, which he founded in 1999.
The takeover of the Tyrol department store in Innsbruck in 2004 caused a sensation. In Vienna, he developed the "Goldenes Quartier" in a prime inner city location. He later invested in buildings such as the Chrysler Building in New York, the luxury department store Selfridges in London and the Elbtower in Hamburg.