480,000 euros – How a Lamborghini was purchased for Mrs. Benko

The question of when the key companies in René Benko’s complex Signa Group actually became insolvent will likely preoccupy lawyers and courts for a long time. The fact is that the parent company Signa Holding, which ultimately suffered by far the largest bankruptcy in Austrian economic history, was short of cash long before the official bankruptcy filing at the end of November 2023.

Lawyers sent payment reminders
This is evident, for example, from the fact that Signa already owed legal costs in 2022: both Benko’s home and court firm (Arnold Rechtsanwälte GmbH) and Benko’s Viennese criminal lawyer Stefan Prochaska had to send repeated payment reminders in the first period. mid-2023 and request payment of their payments. The performance is correct. A collective invoice from Nikolaus Arnold once amounted to 288,347.25 euros. When Holding director Marcus Mühlberger asked a Signa financial manager again about an outstanding lawyer’s invoice from Vienna, he explained to him at the beginning of June 2023: He currently has no money; because, among other things, Mrs. Benko’s car had to be paid for.

Mrs. Benko’s car?

666 hp, 44 percent NoVA
In these turbulent times before the Big Bang, the Signa Group seriously bought a new luxury sports car to be used by Nathalie Benko. A Lamborghini Urus Performante, 666 hp, finished in a special shade of green (additional price: 10,600 euros) and with all the extras such as a Bang & Olufsen sound system for advanced users (5,798 euros). A normal consumption tax (NoVA) of 44 percent is payable for such a vehicle. In addition, a CO₂ fine of 10,500 euros applies. The contract was signed on April 13, 2023 by Benko’s ‘signature August’ Marcus Mühlberger, his old holding company director. Gross purchase price: just shy of 480,000 euros.

Significant prioritization
So while the lights in Benko’s shady business empire increasingly threatened to go out over the course of 2023 and Signa’s financial managers were desperate to find liquidity in every corner, the management around the now bankrupt real estate speculator apparently still had important priorities: preferred to spend the 480,000 euros on a Lamborghini instead of satisfying creditors who had been waiting for their money for a long time.

The pool of “family cars”
Benko is considered a fan of luxury cars. According to available confidential documents from the Signa empire, the pool of “family cars” included vehicles from Mercedes (S-Class) and BMW (X5 or 5 Series). Pool vehicles were also sometimes used by security personnel. The recipients of the invoices for the cars were Signa Holding or Benko itself.

Since the collapse of Signa, the installments for the luxury Lamborghini and other ‘family vehicles’ have apparently been paid by those close to the Benkos. As is known, he himself is insolvent.