Confidential documents show how Austria’s most famous bankrupt continues to juggle millions in his private Laura foundation.
With his Signa Group he suffered the largest bankruptcies in Austria’s post-war history. He filed for personal bankruptcy as a business owner in March. Since then he has been pretending to be a penniless bankrupt. It is said that René Benko has no more to live on from his current income of 3,700 euros than what his curator gives him in pocket money.
In fact, the real estate speculator continues to operate in the background as an influential string puller. As a juggler without any remorse. As head of a shadowy empire, he created, which Benko’s curators and creditors want to penetrate after the crash of Signa and its founder.
In concrete terms, this concerns the Laura Private Foundation and its subsidiaries, which have significant real estate assets in Austria and Germany. Benko is no longer one of Laura’s beneficiaries and tries to give the outside world the impression that he officially has nothing to do with the company. Benko’s 74-year-old mother Ingeborg, a retired kindergarten teacher, is officially registered as the main beneficiary of the Laura Private Foundation.
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
However, the confidential documents available to “Krone” and “News” reveal the audacity with which Austria’s most famous bankrupt apparently continues as if there had been no billion-dollar bankruptcies. This can be seen, for example, in an email exchange from March 2024, in which the on-paper penniless and ineffective Tyrolean directly attacks one of the directors of the Laura Group.
“Topic: Foundation properties”.
René Benko writes from his Laura email account to the foundation’s top manager: “Are you mentally ill? We spontaneously called today to ask whether the buyer for the M25 and Adamgasse was already known and no longer a syllable. We have not spoken a syllable about additional houses, let alone all houses, nor about short-term liquidity needs.”
Apparently, Laura properties were offered more widely on the market by this director than Benko would like. The real estate speculator is raging. A copy of the email inquiring about the mental health of the director of the Laura subsidiary is also sent to Signa Holding director Marcus “Signature-August” Mühlberger, who has been helping Benko with the private foundation’s real estate assets for years Laura to manage.
Even more information about Benko’s decisive role in the foundation comes from an email exchange from April 2024:
“Topic: Foundation properties Innsbruck”.
Benko is again outraged by an email from the director, who told an Innsbruck real estate agent that the previous talks had to be “unfortunately” suspended.
Benko, who is officially not allowed to have any influence on the board of the Laura Foundation and its companies, literally explodes and taps the keys like crazy, including typos:
“What kind of nonsense is this? There was a clear specification and approval from the foundation board.” The director, writes Benko, “could have offered the properties at Museumsstrasse 25 and Adamgasse to a (!) Munich real estate agent with two (!) German potential investors” using a confidentiality agreement – “and no longer.”
Instead, there was “NO (!) Munich real estate agent” involved, but rather one from Innsbruck, which is why Benko rages: “…The properties were offered without permission,” he says. The Innsbruck real estate agent had signed a confidentiality agreement and “clearly violated” it. And the director of the subsidiary Laura “ignored all demands!!!”
“Not funny anymore”
Benko continues to write to himself angrily: “It’s over now. Benko writes to him that today the director must “deliver a full written report, as requested by the board of the foundation.” Once again, the secret mastermind in Laura adds three exclamation marks. See you Finally, Benko notes: “I must report these grievances to the foundation board and will not tolerate any ‘GAMES’ or ‘FULL TALEES’.”
A copy of the letter is sent to South Tyrolean accountant Heinz Peter Hager, who is considered Benko’s last governor and is chairman of the Laura Private Foundation.
Who is really in charge?
grievances. Games. long stories. Benko’s emails are explosive because, from the perspective of the creditors who are demanding billions from the 47-year-old Tyrolean bankrupt, the question arises as to who is really in charge of Laura.
Is Benko also the de facto ruler of the Laura Private Foundation, as was the case with Signa according to the researchers? And what role do the two Signa managers Mühlberger and Pirolt (head of finance until summer 2024) play in the Laura shadow kingdom of the Benkos?
Manuel Pirolt, who also sat on the board of the Laura Foundation until the end of June, was probably a particularly loyal servant of his master. At the end of April 2024, he sent an email to third parties with clear instructions, which were actually formulated for him by a man who was officially considered dirt poor and unable to function for months: René Benko.
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.
