The founder of the Signa Group is in custody. Despite the insolvency, he had access to wealth from family foundations until the end?
The insolvency administrator in the case of René Benko wants to control the family foundations in the vicinity of the Austrian real estate investor in a legal proceedings. At the first hearing at the Innsbruck district court, no judgment was yet made.
In the course of the collapse of his real estate and trading group Signa, Benko had declared himself unable to pay in the previous year. Nevertheless, he continued to live a luxurious life in his villa in Innsbruck. The ex-billionaire has been in custody since last week. Among other things, prosecutors suspect that he continues to have access to a family foundation, but had kept this.
Benko’s mother’s lawyer defends himself
Benko’s insolvency administrator is also similar. He therefore filed a lawsuit so that the rights are transferred to him over two foundations in Austria and Liechtenstein, which formally lie with Benko’s mother. However, her lawyer requested that the district court reject the lawsuit.
The fact that Benko has veiled his assets has recently not commented on his lawyer. So far, however, the lawyer has rejected all criminal allegations against the 47 -year -old investor – including fraud and infidelity. Benko is also investigated in Germany and Italy.
In the course of rising interest rates, energy prices and construction costs, the nested construct of the Signa Group collapsed. Benko demanded a total of around 2.4 billion euros. So far, the bankruptcy court has only recognized 47 million euros from this sum.