Ex-billionaire Benko convicted at Austrian retrial, sentence increased
The court said the retrial concerned a rent payment and that Benko remains in custody while the wider Signa collapse probe continues.
- On Tuesday, an Austrian court in Innsbruck found former property tycoon Rene Benko guilty on an additional insolvency fraud charge, increasing his prison sentence to 30 months from the original two years.
- Signa's collapse in late 2023 became Austria's biggest post-war bankruptcy, leaving investors across Europe nursing losses and triggering a wider criminal investigation into the property group Benko founded.
- The court convicted Benko of insolvency fraud for a $344,000 transfer to his mother in late 2023, while acquitting him on a second count regarding an advance rent payment of about 360,000 for a house in Innsbruck.
- His time in custody since arrest on January 23 of last year counts toward his sentence, and Benko remains detained in Innsbruck; he also received a 15-month suspended prison sentence in a separate December case.
- The Innsbruck State Court stated the maximum possible penalty for insolvency fraud charges could reach 10 years, though the current sentence stands at 30 months.
76 Articles
76 Articles
Algemeen Dagblad
Disgraced Austrian real estate magnate René Benko has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. The court in Innsbruck found the founder of real estate group Signa guilty of defrauding his creditors. Signa owned, among other things, the KaDeWe department store in Berlin and the Chrysler Building in New York before it collapsed in late 2023.
In the causa around expensive clocks in a vault, the Supreme Court has rejected all appeals. Thus, the second conviction against Benko becomes final – an acquittal for his wife as well.
Austrian ex-billionaire Benko found guilty of insolvency fraud at retrial
VIENNA, Sept 22 - An Austrian court on Tuesday found former property tycoon Rene Benko guilty on an additional insolvency fraud charge at a retrial, increasing his prison sentence to 30 months from the original two years. Read more at straitstimes.com.
The 49-year-old Austrian investor is said to have damaged his creditors and beat them by EUR 360'000.
About a year ago, the Austrian investor Benko was sentenced for damage to his creditors. The trial had to be reopened, the penalty increased. A rent advance became a disaster for the ex-billionaire.
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