In one of his rare interviews, the President of the Financial Prosecutor’s Office, Wolfgang Peschorn, took stock of the practices of financial juggler René Benko.
In unusually sharp words, Peschorn criticized the opaque group of companies of real estate juggler Benko: “What is Signa? Signa is a company name that stands for many companies. It is a network of companies,” said the chairman of the Finanzprokuratur in an Ö1 interview: “In recent weeks it has become clear to everyone who did not want to believe it until now that there is a real lack of transparency” among the more 1,000 Benko employees. “Transparency is necessary.”
As head of the financial prosecutor’s office, Peschorn is, as it were, the highest lawyer in the republic. In his important role he must protect the interests of taxpayers. In contrast to the bankruptcy of Kika/Leiner, in which the Republic of Austria was one of the largest creditors, the bankruptcy of Signa Holding poses a threat of problems especially in the medium term. According to Peschorn, you have to ask yourself: “How can such a bankruptcy affect the real estate market? As a further consequence, this may require the state to intervene indirectly. I just think about the fact that almost every financial crisis has started with a housing crisis.”
“Then came the crisis at Signa”
This is precisely why the Republic’s top lawyer warns that the Benko empire must be in the spotlight: “Transparency is important. The whole process, if you only observe it in 2023, doesn’t really make me happy. Initially there was no question of a crisis in 2023. Then came the crisis at Signa. Then talks with so-called investors failed. As a result, even the entry of a hedge fund, which had long been discussed – at least in Germany – was unsuccessful. And now the application for a restructuring procedure with its own management. All this might give the impression that there is still no desire to uncover the true causes. That the lack of transparency will continue. Because insolvency proceedings without self-administration, that is to say a real insolvency proceeding, obviously offer much stronger intervention rights and information possibilities.”
“One person alone cannot create such a business conglomerate”
As is known, Benko has no longer held any organ positions within his Signa Group since 2013, after a criminal conviction for attempted prohibited intervention. When asked whether Benko can also be held liable as de facto director, Peschorn answers: “You should not announce anything here, but carefully investigate the responsibilities of everyone involved, especially the advisors who have intervened over the years. One person alone cannot create such a business conglomerate. One person alone cannot prevent the annual accounts from being presented in the business register and creating transparency for years to come. There’s more to it than that. And they all need to be identified and held accountable accordingly.”
Who could President Peschorn have meant? The “crown” may shed some light on this (see facsimile below):
The role of holding company managers
Key managers at René Benko include Signa Holding directors Marcus Mühlberger and Christoph Stadlhuber. According to confidential documents in the Crown’s possession, both top managers were aware of the deliberate concealment in connection with the annual accounts that had not been published in the trade register. In fact, Mühlberger and Stadlhuber benefited personally because the fines imposed by the court were reimbursed by Benkos Signa. As a benefit in kind. These fines were even recorded in Excel lists and declared as operating expenses to reduce taxes.
In fact, as financial prosecutor boss Peschorn suspected, there was more to it. Namely, an internal Signa 8-point plan dated December 17, 2021, which established how the company’s accounting fines were to be dealt with.
By the way: Marcus Mühlberger and Christoph Stadlhuber will remain in their positions and therefore at the helm of Signa in the current self-managed restructuring process. Despite the many thousands of euros in mandatory fines that Signa has paid for its managers in recent years.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
