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The public prosecutor of Austria has submitted criminal prosecution against René Benko, founded the tycoon that founded the collapsed real estate group and accused him of insolvency-related fraud.
The costs, submitted In Vienna on Tuesday, Benko accuses hiding and abusing assets worth € 660,000 to the detriment of creditors in his personal insolvency case.
Public Prosecutors claim that Benko, who has been in detention since January, has made an unjustified € 360,000 advance payment and donated € 300,000 to family members while his financial collapse threatened.
The charges bear a potential prison sentence of one to 10 years and are part of the broader radical research into one of Europe’s most spectacular business implosions. A corresponding indictment has been submitted to the Regional Court of Innsbruck.
The Financial Times has previously reported that Austrian, German and Italian prosecutors investigated Benko about potential worsened fraud, embezzlement and the wrong presentation of assets.
Benko, who stays in pre-trial detention, denies all allegations. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One of the most controversial transactions under control is the sale of € 46 million from an Italian villa to a Liechtenstein Foundation that is related to Benko’s mother. Authorities claimed that the estate was exchanged for equity in a Signa daughter company, which became worthless when the company submitted a bankruptcy application months later.
The Kingdom of Benko, once praised for collecting a portfolio of Trophy Activa, including half of the Chrysler building and an interest in the British retailer Selfridges, failed under the weight of € 5 billion in debts.
Public Prosecutors claim that while Signa collapsed at the end of 2023, Benko Assets continued to store and luxury items such as € 8 million in furniture and a Patek Philippe Watch of € 90,000 hidden.
The rapid unraveling of Signa caught on global banks, sovereign asset funds and family agencies that borrowed more than € 15 billion to companies in the group, which also had almost all the largest department stores in Germany.
The involved Julius Baer, one of the largest banks in Switzerland, who has had to deal with control over exposure to Signa.
The indictment is the latest development in a complex web of legal actions involving more than a dozen persons and entities, with a total alleged damage that now a top of € 300 million.