Criminal Trial Against René Benko Starts in October

The trial will be held before a jury court in the jury courtroom of the Innsbruck Regional Court, the court announced on Thursday. The indictment assumes a damage amount of 660,000 euros. If convicted, Benko faces one to ten years in prison.

The hearings on the two scheduled trial days will each begin at 9:00 a.m., it was said. On the first day of the trial, the hearing is scheduled until 6:00 p.m., and on the second day until 8:00 p.m. The accused is charged with having prevented or reduced the satisfaction of creditor claims during his insolvency as a sole proprietor by allegedly setting aside assets. Benko has always denied all allegations.

Payments despite foreseeable bankruptcy filing

The indictment concerns, on the one hand, the advance payment of rent and operating costs amounting to 360,000 euros for the rental of a house, which were said to be economically and factually unjustifiable, as well as a gift of 300,000 euros to relatives, it was said. Benko is said to have made the payments already under the impression of increasing payment difficulties and a foreseeable bankruptcy filing.

The house in question is apparently Benko's villa on the Innsbruck Hungerburg - the second larger residence of the Signa bankrupt in his hometown, in addition to the one in the Igls district. According to investigators, Benko is said to have transferred exactly 360,000 euros to RB Immobilienverwaltungs GmbH & Co KG, which is registered as the owner of the villa, just a few weeks before the wave of bankruptcies in the Signa Group in October, as reported in the media. At that time, the villa was uninhabitable due to water damage following a landslide.

The gift of 300,000 euros to relatives is reportedly a gift to Benko's mother from November 2023 - around the time of the insolvency of Signa Holding, according to media reports.

Rush for Seats in the Courtroom Expected

At the Innsbruck Regional Court, a significant interest in the two scheduled trial days is expected. Media representatives must accredit themselves in advance, with only one representative per medium being allowed to attend the trial, it was said. It was requested to understand that very few seats will likely be available for the general public.

Relocation to Vienna Rejected

Benko's lawyer, Norbert Wess, had filed a motion to relocate the trial to Vienna, which a three-judge panel of the Supreme Court (OGH) rejected. Wess had essentially argued that the proceedings were being conducted by the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) and that the Vienna Regional Criminal Court has a specialized department for such extensive economic cases. However, the OGH judges classified the first partial trial against Benko - there are more than a dozen procedural strands in total - as a rather average economic case, meaning the conditions for a relocation to Vienna were not met.

The 48-year-old Benko has been in pre-trial detention at the Vienna-Josefstadt prison since January 24. A further detention review hearing recently went against the former entrepreneur. The judge still saw an urgent suspicion and risk of committing the offense.

The former entrepreneur and as such insolvent Benko was arrested in January. His Signa Holding filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2023. The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) is investigating in this context "for serious fraud, fraudulent bankruptcy, breach of trust, subsidy abuse, and creditor favoritism" against more than a dozen accused and two associations.

(APA/Red)

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