The former investor and billionaire René Benko must remain in custody. This was decided by the Vienna Regional Court. The authorities continue to see an urgent suspicion and risk of act.
In two months at the latest, the extension of the U-detention must be decided again. Benko has been in prison since January. In the case of complex investigations, the custody can be one year or more, according to a court spokesman.
The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) suspects the 47-year-old of infidelity, fraud and bankruptcy. According to investigators, he is said to have cheated on investors and assets in front of authorities, creditors: inside and insolvency administrators.
Benko had built up a nested company network in the low interest rate phase. For example, he invested in the Galeria Warehouse Group, the Luxury department store KaDeWe and the Hamburg Elbtower project. In addition to internal problems, Signa was brought down from rising interest rates, energy prices and construction costs.