Finance
Austrian prosecutors bring fraud case against fallen property tycoon Benko
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 15, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 15, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Rene Benko, former billionaire, faces fraud charges in Austria related to Signa property group's insolvency. Investigation ongoing.
VIENNA (Reuters) -Austrian prosecutors said on Tuesday they were bringing an insolvency-related fraud case against the former billionaire founder of the collapsed Signa property group, Rene Benko.
Benko has been in custody for more than five months as the Central Prosecutors' Office for Economic Crimes and Corruption (WKStA) carries out a wide-ranging investigation into a range of offences including several counts of fraud he and other unnamed people are suspected of.
One aspect is whether assets that should have gone towards paying back creditors were hidden, such as by being put in a trust of which Benko's immediate family are beneficiaries. He has denied the allegations made against him. His lawyer was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday.
"The prosecutors' office accuses Rene Benko of having prevented or minimised the satisfaction of creditors' claims in the course of his insolvency as an individual entrepreneur by allegedly deviating assets," the WKStA said in a statement.
Specifically, this prosecution concerns a gift of 300,000 euros ($350,000) made to relatives and an advance payment of roughly 360,000 euros for rent and other costs relating to the rental of a home that was unjustifiable, the statement said.
The prosecution is the first stemming from the broader investigation, which covers various other suspected offences, with total harm caused estimated at roughly 300 million euros, the WKStA said.
Benko and other unidentified people are suspected of committing offences including Benko passing off shareholders' investments in a capital increase as his own, fraudulently claiming COVID-19 relief funding by wrongly stating a chalet was operating as a hotel, and misusing funds provided by a sovereign wealth fund as loans towards a property project in Munich.
($1 = 0.8572 euros)
(Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-GoerlichWriting by Francois MurphyEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
Austrian prosecutors are bringing an insolvency-related fraud case against Rene Benko, accusing him of preventing or minimizing the satisfaction of creditors' claims during his insolvency.
Benko is accused of hiding assets that should have been used to pay creditors, including a gift of 300,000 euros to relatives and an advance payment of 360,000 euros for rental costs.
Rene Benko has been in custody for more than five months as investigations continue into various offences related to his financial dealings.
The total harm caused by the suspected offences in the broader investigation is estimated at roughly 300 million euros.
Other suspected offences include fraudulently claiming COVID-19 relief funds and misrepresenting shareholders' investments as his own.
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