In the case of the Signa bankruptcy, the public prosecutor’s office has expanded its investigation to include former Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer. The economic and corruption public prosecutor’s office (WKStA) said it was about suspicion of breach of trust. In this context, there were house searches in Vienna and the surrounding area. The investigation was also directed against a former Signa board member, it was said.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, Gusenbauer abused his powers as chairman of the supervisory board of two Signa companies in October and November 2022 and caused damage to the two companies totaling ten million euros. The former top politician of the social democratic SPÖ is said to have ensured that the board member received “unjustified advance payments”.
Quick change to business
Gusenbauer has already denied similar allegations in a civil case before the Vienna Commercial Court. The 66-year-old was SPÖ federal chairman from 2000 to 2008. He served as head of government in 2007 and 2008. In the year he left office, he moved to the advisory board of Signa, an advisory body of the holding company founded by the investor René Benko.
Signa initially specialized very successfully in real estate projects before entering the retail sector with the purchase of the department store groups Karstadt and Kaufhof, among other things. Due to financial difficulties, the highly complex Signa empire of more than 1,000 companies finally collapsed like a house of cards.
Benko has been in custody since January 2025. The former billionaire was convicted in two trials of damaging creditors. The judgments are not yet final. Further investigations against Benko are ongoing.