Attorney General's Office Recommends Confirmation of Benko Judgment in Second Insolvency Proceedings

The decision is based on a guilty verdict by the Innsbruck Regional Court from December. The court found it proven that René Benko had hidden two valuable watches and four pairs of cufflinks from his creditors. The prosecution had alleged that the valuables were deposited in a safe in a relative's basement behind wine crates. According to investigators, a former employee of Benko provided the tip about the hiding place.

Recommendation for Confiscation

In addition to the fifteen-month suspended prison sentence, the court of first instance imposed an unconditional fine of 360 daily rates of 12 euros each, totaling 4,320 euros. However, in the same proceedings, René Benko was acquitted of the charge of fraudulent insolvency related to other watches and 120,000 euros in cash. The court acquitted his wife of aiding and abetting; it deemed the evidence against her as "too thin."

However, the Attorney General's Office recommends that the Supreme Court supplement the judgment in a significant point: the WKStA's appeal against the dismissal of the confiscation request is justified, and the watches and cufflinks should be declared forfeited. The Public Prosecutor's Office, on the other hand, could not identify any substantive deficiencies in the reasoning or errors in the legal assessment of the court of first instance.

Parallel Proceedings Before the Supreme Court

René Benko's defense, represented by lawyer Norbert Wess, has also filed an appeal and a plea against the judgment. The WKStA appealed Nathalie Benko's acquittal and the rejection of the confiscation of assets. The judgment is therefore not yet legally binding; the presumption of innocence applies to both defendants until the Supreme Court's decision.

The upcoming decision is already the second Benko complex that the Supreme Court has to deal with. A first proceeding concerns a guilty verdict from October 2025, in which the Innsbruck Regional Court had sentenced René Benko to an unconditional prison sentence of 24 months for a gift of 300,000 euros to his mother. In the same proceedings, he had been acquitted of the charge of a 360,000-euro rent prepayment for a villa in the Innsbruck district of Hungerburg. In its statement on the first case, the Attorney General's Office had recommended the confirmation of the guilty verdict and the reversal of the partial acquittal.

This first complex will be publicly heard at the Supreme Court on July 2. For the current second fraudulent insolvency complex, the Attorney General's Office has recommended a public hearing to the highest court. This increases the pressure on the Signa founder, whose empire collapsed after insolvency in one of the largest economic proceedings in Austrian post-war history.

Outlook and Open Questions

Legally, it remains to be seen how the Supreme Court will handle the diverging requests. Should the highest court follow the recommendation, the guilty verdict for fraudulent insolvency would be confirmed in a first instance, but the criminal prosecution of assets would be explicitly expanded. A different decision, on the other hand, could refer parts of the proceedings back to the first instance.

Regardless of the outcome of the two Supreme Court proceedings, numerous other civil and criminal proceedings are ongoing around the Signa complex, including investigations against former managers, banks, and auditing firms. The statements now submitted by the Attorney General's Office are considered an important indicator of how the highest judges are likely to assess the fraudulent insolvency charges against Benko overall.

In the first proceeding, Benko's defense had described the WKStA's allegations as "science fiction." This choice of words points to the sharp tone with which the dispute over the insolvency of the Signa group continues to be conducted – even if the criminal assessment ultimately remains solely the responsibility of the courts.