Raiffeisen jumped in – vertebrae for a short fee: Swiss did not pay

From the office of the federal Chancellor to the Benko empire: Sebastian Kurz, once the youngest head in Austria, now acts as an entrepreneur and consultant. After saying goodbye to Ballhausplatz, he also worked for René Benko who now collapsed. A six-digit payment to Kurz-Company SK management GMBH now reveals new details. And shows how different banks deal with explosive connections.

A fee that increases – and noticeable
In the center of this study into “Krone” and “News” there is a transfer of more than 900,000 euros – 750,000 euros Netto Plus sales tax – from Signa Prime Selection AG to SK Management GmbH. This payment was handled on September 25, 2023, only a few weeks before the Signa empire collapsed spectacularly. Spicy: the amount flowed through a bill from the Raiffeisenlandsebank Lower Austria.

But before the sum reached Austria, it must originally be transferred in a completely different way. Via an account at Credit Suisse, in the hands of Signa Financial Services AG based in Zurich.

There, however, the alarm bells apparently grill.

Credit Suisse says no
The Swiss bank refused to handle the transfer. Reason: the recipient, SK Management GmbH, is connected to a politically exposed person (PEP) – Sebastian Kurz. In such cases, banks are obliged to perform particularly strict testing processes to exclude corruption, money laundering or influence. According to internal information, Credit Suisse asked for additional documents from those responsible for the Signa Group. Even after their entry, however, the bank refused to pay “for business reasons”. In the financial world this is a code for: too high compliance risk.

Plan B: Payment via Innsbruck and Vienna
Did not beat Swiss no. On September 11, 2023, his company has set itself. This time to sign Lima GmbH in Innsbruck. However, it was ultimately paid by another company of the Benko Group: Signa Prime Selection AG, via whose account in the Raiffeisenlandsebank Nö-Wien.

The bank apparently did not worry. Or at least not shown. The subsidiary of Raiffeisen refused to give repeated questions of “krone” and “news” about the internal test processes and any PEP risks. The reference to bank secrecy has always been followed.

Collapsing in sight – Money flows anyway
The time is explosive: payment to Kurz was in a phase in which the Signa group was already economically difficult. A few weeks later the Signa Prime bankruptcy reported. The fact that under these circumstances a high amount flowed to a former top politician – instead of being used or used to secure creditors – causes certain irritation in the processing of the largest bankruptcy of European post -war history among insiders.

As is known, Sebastian Kurz helped the Signa Group of René Benko to find donors in the Arab world. In the end, he only received a fraction of his company from the agreed million reimbursement from his company.

Questions to Raiffeisen
Nevertheless, the question arises as to why the Raiffeisenlandsebank Nö-Wien-Ongestwijveld the Suisse-Had credit no objection to the transaction. Which criteria have been used? Which exams were carried out? Were there any questions or internal worries?

The bank is silent.

Kurz himself recently emphasized several times that all his business activities were “completely legally correct”. But one question remains: if even a Swiss bank would see a risk of paying to an Austrian ex-channelelier–Why hasn’t Raiffeisen seen?