According to media reports, a group of investors have filed a complaint against Signa Development Selection AG with the Vienna public prosecutor’s office for economic crimes. This develops and rents real estate such as retail space, office buildings and hotels. It has been in self-administration insolvency proceedings since the end of December.
The reason for the criminal complaint: The investors accuse the real estate development company of the Signa Group of “illegal transactions”. For example, shortly before the bankruptcy filing, an amount of around 662 million euros was distributed to indirect shareholders and sister companies without good reason flowed.
Data forensics experts from the auditing group Deloitte, who are investigating the group on behalf of Signa Holding’s insolvency administrator, Christof Stapf, also found a “noticeable number of transactions before the bankruptcy filing,” writes the Austrian magazine Profil.
The public prosecutor’s office in Vienna does not want to comment on the exact allegations, but confirms that reports have been received. “In the last few weeks, the WKStA has received several submissions in connection with the insolvency of Signa companies. These are currently being checked to see if there is an initial suspicion,” said the public prosecutor’s office when asked by FashionUnited. However, no information can be provided about individual advertisements and displays.