Billionaire René Benko has declared himself innocent in a corruption trial in Austria over donations from real estate entrepreneurs. “I asked myself why I’m sitting here,” said the 45-year-old department store investor on Friday in the Vienna district court. The focus of the proceedings is the former Vienna municipal councilor and Greens politician Christoph Chorherr. According to the indictment, he is said to have collected around 1.6 million euros in donations for school projects in South Africa from nine entrepreneurs and managers, including Benko. In return, Chorherr is said to have supported their real estate projects.
Benko, who is accused of incitement to abuse of office and bribery, said in court that he did not know Chorherr personally and did not know that the politician was involved in the charitable projects. He was not asked for donations by politicians, but by a co-defendant entrepreneur who was also financially involved in the schools, said Benko.
Signa Holding, founded by Benko, donated EUR 100,000 in 2011. Benko denied the prosecutor’s allegation that the payment was related to a major Viennese real estate project. The verdicts in the trial will be on December 20 at the earliest (dpa)