The curator of René Benko’s bankrupt real estate group Signa is now also asking former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to pay. In concrete terms, he wants to reclaim 750,000 euros in a so-called legal battle.
SK Management GmbH, founded by Kurz in 2022, helped a subsidiary of Signa raise $100 million from an Arab investor. According to the information, 750,000 of the agreed compensation of 2.4 million euros has been paid, as confirmed to krone.at in November – just before the bankruptcy. This is exactly what the curator now wants back, reports the “Standaard”.
Three fees submitted to subsidiary Signa
On September 11 of the previous year, Kurz had submitted a total of three fees to a subsidiary of Signa through SK Management GmbH. Two for 750,000 euros each (plus sales tax), one for 916,090 euros. The latter involved a one percent profit share for the financing of 100 million dollars (at the time approximately 91.6 million euros) from Dubai, which flowed into Signa’s already tight cash flow in the summer of 2023.
However, Kurz received only one of the three invoiced fees of 750,000 euros. This leaves 1.65 million euros outstanding, which Kurz can probably ignore because the ex-chancellor’s company has not registered any claims in the bankruptcy process.
Kurz’s confidant
Benko was considered a close confidante of the turquoise former chancellor. During his term in office, the turquoise blue government helped the real estate juggler take over the Leiner House on Mariahilferstrasse in Vienna.
When the administrator tries to save for creditors, the focus – in addition to the realization of the real estate – is on payment flows that took place up to six months before the bankruptcy. So-called legal challenges are available here.
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.
