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Austrian court finds former property tycoon Benko guilty of fraud
Benko was sentenced for diverting 660,000 euros to shield funds from creditors during Signa's insolvency, Austria's largest bankruptcy since World War Two, prosecutors said.
- On Wednesday, an Austrian court in Innsbruck found Rene Benko guilty of one count of insolvency-related fraud and sentenced him to two years in prison, marking his first conviction related to Signa Holding.
- Signa's 2023 insolvency filings triggered the collapse of Signa Holding, Austria's biggest bankruptcy since World War Two after Benko expanded across Europe until rising post-2022 interest rates strained the group.
- Prosecutors focused on alleged diversions totaling about 660,000 euros, including a 300,000 transfer to his mother and around 360,000 for an uninhabitable Innsbruck house.
- Benko has been detained since his January arrest and remains in custody, Judge Andrea Wegscheider said time served will count toward his sentence, and prosecutors confirmed the conviction is appealable with other cases ongoing.
- Creditors including Deutsche Bank, Allianz, Julius Baer and Raiffeisen Bank International have filed billions in claims and Benko faces probes with allegations of hiding luxury items worth �370,000.
12 Articles
12 Articles
The reworking of the René Benko case will take years. The first verdict is just the beginning, further proceedings will follow. What the first trial means.
Austrian court finds former property tycoon Benko guilty of fraud
An Austrian court found former property billionaire Rene Benko guilty of one count of insolvency-related fraud on Wednesday, his first criminal conviction related to the collapse of his real estate group Signa, but cleared him on a second count.
Austrian property tycoon sentenced to two years in jail for fraud
An Austrian court on Wednesday sentenced fallen property tycoon Rene Benko to two years in prison for insolvency fraud, marking the first conviction in a wide-ranging investigation into the collapse of his real-estate empire.
Austrian Property Tycoon Sentenced To Two Years' Jail For Fraud
An Austrian court on Wednesday sentenced fallen property tycoon Rene Benko to two years in prison for insolvency fraud, the first conviction in a wide-ranging investigation into the collapse of his real-estate empire.
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