Signa founder Rene Benko arrested in Innsbruck

Signa founder René Benko was arrested on Thursday morning in his villa near Innsbruck. This is what the Austrian media reports. Benko’s lawyer Norbert Wess confirmed the arrest to the newspaper “Der Standard”.

The economic and corruption public prosecutor’s office has been investigating Benko for some time – including on suspicion of serious fraud and several offenses in connection with the bankruptcy of his real estate empire. According to the “Standard”, Benko is said to have, among other things, “managed around” the insolvency estate. There is a suspicion that he tried to deprive the creditors of assets. The specific reason for the arrest is not yet known. According to the report, Benko’s lawyer has not yet received it.

The real estate tycoon is scheduled to be questioned by a judge on Friday. A decision must be made within 48 hours as to whether pre-trial detention will be imposed. The prerequisite for this is, in addition to a strong suspicion of a crime, the risk of escape, concealment or the commission of further crimes. The main focus is likely to be the risk of blackout.

Observers had long been surprised that, despite the serious allegations in recent months, Benko was free and was even able to continue his luxurious lifestyle. He was photographed on a boat trip on Lake Garda in the summer and on a hunting trip with a prominent politician in the fall.

It was recently unclear what Benko does and where his immense fortune is. According to media reports, he regularly drove to his Innsbruck office while his mother financed his expensive lifestyle – including the rent in the villa at the foot of the Patscherkofel, which is said to be almost 240,000 euros per month. The mother, Ingeborg Benko, is a beneficiary of the Austrian Laura Private Foundation and the Ingbe Foundation in Liechtenstein. It is assumed that René Benko secured his assets in these.

The head of the financial prosecutor’s office, Wolfgang Peschorn, who represents the interests of the Republic of Austria in the Signa case, also expressed the suspicion in an interview with the NZZ in November that Benko could continue the type of business that he had done before the bankruptcy and so on build a parallel world, a kind of Signa 2.