Signa - House Search in Vienna City Center
Apparently affected are the Signa headquarters on Herrengasse in Vienna and locations in Tyrol, including the former office of Signa founder Rene Benko in the Kaufhaus Tyrol and the Benko Villa in Innsbruck, writes the "Kronen Zeitung" (online). According to reports, these are "investigations in an international context."
The "Standard" also writes that the house searches are related to allegations by the German and Italian public prosecutors. They are likely to have requested mutual legal assistance from their Austrian colleagues. According to "Krone," the allegations involve fraud and breach of trust in the triple-digit million range. The WKStA stated in response to an APA inquiry that they "cannot provide any information" on the reports at this time. Some media are now reporting informal confirmations, with the "Tiroler Tageszeitung" writing, "from the outside, however, it was visible how investigators apparently meticulously photographed the interior of the villa." In the past, there have already been multiple house searches at Signa.
Benko in Custody in Vienna
Benko himself is currently in pre-trial detention in Vienna. This was only extended by two months on Tuesday. The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) sees a risk of collusion and commission of offenses. He is particularly accused of having forged an invoice and attempted to conceal assets and withdraw them from the reach of authorities, insolvency administrators, and creditors.
Benko is also under investigation in Germany and Italy, with the WKStA having formed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) with the public prosecutors in Berlin and Munich at the beginning of 2025. The public prosecutor's office in Trento suspected Benko of being the "leader of a mafia-like criminal organization" founded with the aim of obtaining concessions and permits to derive unjustified profits, as revealed in the investigation files. In Italy, there was an arrest warrant against Benko, which was rejected by a court in Tyrol.
In Bavaria, investigators are examining whether Benko and other managers of the Signa Group defrauded a Saudi Arabian state fund. At the same time, it is being investigated whether Benko and possible accomplices embezzled funds from a company within the Signa Group. In both cases, the triple-digit million amounts are said to have flowed directly into the "corporate complex" Signa immediately after receipt.
Berlin Public Prosecutor Investigates
The Berlin public prosecutor is investigating, among other things, on suspicion of subsidy fraud and delaying insolvency. The trigger for the Munich investigation, which has been ongoing since 2023, was several money laundering suspicion reports.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.