Insolvent ex-Signa boss: Police arrest billionaire René Benko at his villa

René Benko, former head of the Signa Group, was arrested on Thursday. He is accused of serious fraud and several insolvency offenses.

Former Signa boss René Benko was arrested in his villa in Innsbruck early on Thursday morning. This was reported by Austrian media.

Among other things, Benko had been investigated for fraud and several insolvency offenses. House searches were carried out in Tyrol and Vienna in July.

Benko’s lawyer Norbert Wess confirmed the arrest of his client at the request of the “Standard”.

The claims against Signa Holding amount to over 7.7 billion euros, the largest insolvency proceedings in Austrian history.

Investigations in several countries

A number of criminal charges have been brought against the Signa founder. The former Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance, Thomas Schmid, who is now a key witness, stated that Benko had tried to bribe him with a job at Signa. In return, Benko had wanted to intervene in tax matters. Following the bankruptcy of the Signa empire, accusations of insolvency fraud and fraud were raised.

In Germany and Liechtenstein, investigations are underway on suspicion of money laundering. Benko denies the allegations. The presumption of innocence applies.

The Italian judiciary had already issued an arrest warrant for Benko at the beginning of December. The Italians accuse Benko and his business partners of founding a “mafia-like” criminal organization in northern Italy and exerting undue influence on the authorities.

The bankruptcy also had consequences for Switzerland: Signa was also co-owner of the Swiss department store chain Globus. In the fall, the Thai Chirathivat family and its Central Group took over the 50 percent stake in Globus held by the insolvent Signa Group. This makes the Thai family the sole owner of the department store chain.