The Austrian tycoon who declared bankruptcy and who has an arrest warrant: who is René Benko

The Trento District Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant for the Austrian businessman Rene Benkowho less than a year ago appeared in the international press as the protagonist of an enormous financial collapse. In addition to him, other businessmen were arrested in Italy, such as his Bolzano accountant Heinz Peter Hager and the mayor of Riva del Garda, Cristina Santi.

At the moment the latter are under house arrest. At the beginning of the month, the tycoon appeared before the Innsbruck Police Directorate, where he was questioned by investigators, although Benko is still at large.

Who is René Benko

René Benko was born on May 20, 1977 in Austria, and is a Bankrupt Real Estate and Media Retail Investor. In addition, he was the founder of the Signa Holding group. This company was considered the largest private real estate conglomerate in Austria.

Before the collapse, Benko He was considered one of the richest men in Austria and maintained perfect relations with politicians from all parties in the country. In March 2024 he was declared insolvent. In addition, the Liechtenstein prosecutor’s office has reported that a criminal case has been opened against him.

What led René Benko to insolvency and the collapse of his real estate empire?

Since its founding in 1999 and its appearance as Signa Holding in 2006, the company has had constant expansive growth, even until 2021, where acquired Selfridges & Co, which expanded their shared portfolio control of luxury establishments across Europe.

However, since 2023 problems began to appear. After the sale of 49.9% of KaDeWewe began to see the enormous growth in debt that the company was facing and the impossibility of dealing with it. In November 2023, Benko’s resignation as head of the company was confirmed. It was revealed that the company maintained a debt of 10.3 billion euros and an inability to make payments.

But in addition, other crimes investigated by the Italian prosecutor’s office in Trento came to light. The accusations include: association to commit a crime, manipulation of auctions, illegal financing of parties, trafficking in illicit influence, fraud, improper receipt of subsidies to the detriment of the State, in addition to various crimes against public administration, such as corruption, improper induction, disclosure of trade secrets and omission of official acts, as well as violations of tax regulations related to the issuance of invoices for non-existent operations.

The arrest warrant for René Benko

The investigations coordinated by the DDA of the Trento Prosecutor’s Office with Carabineros of the ROS and the Finance of the Trento Economic-Financial Police Nucleus suppose the existence of a business group capable of influencing and controlling the main initiatives of the public administration, especially in the real estate speculation sector in Trentino Alto Adige.

The investigations involve 77 individualsincluding 11 public administrators, 20 managers and officials of local entities and participating companies, members of law enforcement, professionals and businessmen. In addition, numerous legal entities have been accused of administrative liability.