Thomas Schmid put a heavy burden on real estate juggler René Benko. The WKStA is investigating his confession and has submitted the first report. He shows how Benko cashed in with tricks in the Golden Quarter.
The file note of the public prosecutor’s office of corruption is about 200 pages long. The senior prosecutors conducted an initial check to determine whether Schmid’s confession was well founded. Above all, real estate juggler René Benko was heavily taxed by the ex-ÖBAG boss. Schmid’s key statements: Benko offered to make him the “general representative” in Signa Holding with an annual salary of €300,000 plus an equal bonus.
How to make 53 million in three weeks
In return, Schmid must remove the hurdles in Signa’s tax audit. Since there have already been two seizures at the Treasury Department by the WKStA and Schmid’s hard drive containing 300,000 chat messages is still a fund, the chief prosecutors had enough documents to conduct an initial forensic investigation. And they found it. In the memo, they mention how Benko sent Schmid a job offer at the end of 2016.
But Benko’s opaque business model is also described in detail: how Benko, for example, earned 53 million euros with the purchase, sale and resale of the Tuchlauben complex. Spicy detail aside: Benko should have raised 60 million euros in equity, but he only succeeded in 10 million. Despite the 50 million gap, the Tuchlauben complex – today’s Golden Quarter – was sold to Signa in April 2008 for 141 million. In September 2008, Signa was sold for 141 million to a newly established Luxembourg company, in which Benko owned shares through the Laura Private Foundation.
Just two weeks later, the next sale to an Austrian company succeeds – but now the Golden Quarter costs 195 million, or 53 million more. The owners of this Austrian company were for 12 percent a company of Signa Holding and an offshore company of the former shareholder.
A golden coup
At the end of 2008, the hidden reserves revealed during the sale (which do not appear on the balance sheet) were paid out in two tranches to the Laura Private Foundation and thus fell under Benko’s sole economic privacy. A golden coup.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
