Financial juggler René Benko as a hapless businessman from Innsbruck. From state aid to house searches. He cynically named his department store after a fallen Hollywood icon. Our Kasper of the week.
All that glitters is not gold – an old saying that not only coin collectors should heed. The meaning is clear: not everything is as valuable as thinking. The saying goes back (in modified form) to William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”. In Austria, the wisdom of life has a new mascot: financial juggler René Benko, of whom no one knows exactly whether he now has more problems than millions. As a merchant from Innsbruck, the 45-year-old plays a key role in the current scandals.
The public prosecutor saw an urgent suspicion of bribery and ordered a search of Benkos Signa Holding’s home. It is the presumption of innocence. To make matters worse, his Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof store chain has become a very hungry caterpillar feeding on taxpayers’ money.
Current career like Mahü construction site
And so his career is similar to that of his department store on Vienna’s Mariahilfer Strasse: he wants to aim higher than possible, with a lot of noise, but it is still a construction site. The retail block will henceforth be called “Lamarr”, named after the actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr.
Benko also laughs at the icon, because in 1991 she was repeatedly caught theft from a department store. Pure kleptomania cynicism. What’s next for René Benko? Instead of bringing the expensive yacht to the harbor only in the ports? An ending like Shakespeare’s plays? Guard. Follow up to follow…
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
