Confidential documents show that soon after entering the opaque realm of the real estate juggler (2009), the busy ex-SPÖ boss had to collect another 280,000 euros per year.
The most important information is now known to the general public: On December 2, 2008, Alfred Gusenbauer resigned from the federal government as SPÖ chancellor. On December 18, he had negotiated a definitive agreement with René Benko’s Signa Holding.
On December 23, the former chancellor and the real estate speculator signed the document that Gusenbauer had to guarantee a fee from the chancellor from February 2009. 280,000 euros per year. From February 2009. At the same time, it was announced before Christmas 2008: Gusenbauer would be a speaker in the Lower Austrian Chamber of Labor from February 2009. For 4000 euros gross per month. The former SPÖ leader won twice until he left the AK in the summer of 2009.
“Extraordinary bonus”
Confidential Signa documents available to the “Krone” now show that Alfred Gusenbauer would even receive double the chancellor’s fee from René Benko. At the beginning of April 2010, after the first year of cooperation between the former Social Democratic head of government and the busy financial juggler, the 2008 agreement was supplemented: for the first year there would be an “extraordinary bonus equal to an annual salary, being 280,000 euros”.
This special compensation must be paid in two instalments. The second part was linked to financing, for example around the Tirol department store (see facsimile). Signed by: René Benko.
The file note
On April 12, 2010, the original agreement from December 2008 was amended in writing in the sense that, instead of “project-related, success-oriented special compensation”, Gusenbauer should henceforth receive “a lump sum compensation of 280,000 euros.” pa retroactively from 2009.” This is documented in a file note from the now bankrupt Signa Holding, which bears the signature of the holding company’s director, Marcus Mühlberger. Mühlberger was later called ‘signature August’ by Benko in a small group when the founder of Signa no longer held official executive positions after a criminal conviction.
Speaking of the Tirol department store: Benko had also once thanked Alfred Gusenbauer in a small group in the presence of Alfred Gusenbauer, who had helped him significantly with his political contacts during his time as Chancellor to realize Signa’s first large department store. project (keyword: roof extension). The appointment was organized by PR man Wolfgang Rosam, and the then ORF Info director Elmar Oberhauser was present.
Gusenbauer himself once said in a TV documentary that he had expressed his opinion on the sidelines of meetings with Tyrolean politicians at the time, according to which you could not avoid “such purchasing initiatives” if you wanted to revitalize the inner cities.
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.
