On Friday, the Vienna Regional Court finally confirmed the deprivation of liberty of financial juggler René Benko – the Tyrolean will now have to spend at least 14 days behind bars, after which a new assessment will be carried out. Hearings have now taken place in Switzerland in the ‘Geldkarussell’ case. The most recent events at a glance.
Benko spent his last minutes of freedom at his desk at Maria-Thérèsien-Straße 31 in Innsbruck – krone.at reports. The founder of Signa still has an office in the Tirol department store, which first brought the real estate speculator to international attention 15 years ago. On the top floor.
Things went downhill Thursday morning after SOKO detectives handed Signa the arrest warrant. First to the Innsbruck Regional Court, then to the Vienna-Josefstadt prison, where the 47-year-old is said to have spent the first night in solitary confinement under video surveillance.
“Urgent suspicion”
On Friday afternoon, a judge at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court made the decision: René Benko will be placed in pre-trial detention. The reason for this measure is: “The court assumes that there is a strong suspicion of a crime and that there is a risk of concealment and commission of the crime.” Benko refused to make a statement to the judge.
Instead of expensive gourmet restaurants and luxurious dishes with champagne, caviar, oysters, lobster, etc., the port menu on day one in the cell in the “Gray House” was not so feudal. For breakfast there was coffee with milk, brown bread and Rupp cheese spread. On Friday afternoon, fried pea soup, fried fish with parsley potatoes and celery salad were served in the traditional Austrian way. And finally, for the very early dinner at 3 p.m., cold food with brown bread and sliced cheese.
The Ministry of Justice says in official language: “Prisoners must be adequately fed with simple institutional food. The food must be in line with nutritional science and be tasty.”
Insider: Charges may apply in the spring
Benko and his lawyers will also have to prepare for heavy legal costs in the near future. According to information from “Krone”, investigations by the Public Prosecution Service for Economic and Corruption (WKStA) in the “Money Carousel” case are well advanced. Insiders expect the first indictment to be completed in the spring.
Witnesses for the prosecution in Switzerland
In recent days, two Swiss co-investors of Signa were interrogated as witnesses in Frauenfeld, Switzerland. Another interview took place in Vienna before Christmas.
How 35 million euros were sent around
The ‘money carousel’ is about a possible trick that Benko is said to have used together with his closest confidantes as part of a capital increase by Signa Holding in the summer of 2023. At that time, the holding company was already in dire straits, which ultimately forced investors to pay an amount of had to inject 350 million euros.
Benko is said to have given the impression that he was setting a good example and channeling 35 million through his ‘Family Benko Private Foundation’. In fact, the 35 million would have been taken out of the Signa Group and traveled through various accounts and companies, ultimately ending up back in Signa. With the label: “fresh equity”.
The presumption of innocence applies to Benko and the directors involved.
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.
