Discreet foundation

Benko set up a protective wall in Liechtenstein

Signa founder Benko: ruler of a highly non-transparent construct

(Bild: APA/Robert Jäger, Klemens Groh, Krone KREATIV)

Liechtenstein again and again: there is another foundation in the secretive Principality with which financial juggler Benko wanted to protect himself against a possible wave of bankruptcies at an early stage. This foundation owns the sophisticated Villa Ansaldi on Lake Garda via intermediate companies.  

It is no easy task to maintain an overview in the financially parlous corporate kingdom of darkness: At the end of November, Signa Holding, the ultimate group company, filed for insolvency. At the end of December, Signa Prime and Signa Development, the two main core companies, slipped into bankruptcy. In mid-March, Signa founder René Benko filed for bankruptcy as a private entrepreneur in Innsbruck, and at the end of March the Benko family private foundation, also based in Tyrol, in which the now worthless Signa shares are parked, filed for bankruptcy. It is burdened with an astonishing amount of debt: 1.14 billion euros.

Benko's foundations are located in Innsbruck and Vaduz.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV, Foto: Karl Schöndorfer)

Bankruptcy tsunami
Anyone following the trail of money quickly comes to the conclusion that it seems only a matter of time before the Laura Private Foundation, the second Benko foundation based in Innsbruck, could be caught up in the bankruptcy tsunami. According to research by "Krone" and "News", more than 50 million euros were transferred from Signa Holding to the Laura Private Foundation before the big crash. This transfer of millions will probably occupy the investigators of Soko Signa even more intensively in the coming months.

But René Benko has tried to build in a hedge against this wave of bankruptcies. In the discreet financial center of Liechtenstein. As we reported last week, it is not only the money and gold bunker of his Ingbe Foundation that is located there. It is also home to a second, very discreet private foundation. And, piquantly, a legal protective wall against a bankruptcy tsunami has been built into this foundation, as research by "Krone" and "News" reveals.

Her name: Arual.

Her name, read from back to front: Laura.

René Benko

(Bild: APA/Robert Jäger, Klemens Groh, Krone KREATIV)

Laura establishes the Arual Foundation
No significant data on this Benko vehicle can be obtained from public sources such as the Liechtenstein company register. However, confidential documents show that Arual was established in 2008. Founder: Benko's Austrian Laura Private Foundation. In the meantime, two dazzling individuals sat on the foundation's advisory board: Benko's close confidant Heinz Peter Hager, who had been Signa's South Tyrol trustee for many years. And Eduardo Leemann, once head of the Swiss Falcon Bank, which did business with Benko's Signa and was closed down by the authorities following a money laundering scandal.

So how is this Benko protective wall constructed? This emerges from an expert opinion by the tax consultancy firm TPA, which was prepared by Benko's long-time companion Karin Fuhrmann. It states, among other things: "According to the documents, the economic benefactor is the Laura Private Foundation." Particularly noteworthy: "The by-laws stipulate that the Austrian Laura Private Foundation is the sole and exclusive primary beneficiary. In the event that Laura Privatstiftung no longer exists or that execution is levied on the assets of Laura Privatstiftung, natural persons are designated as contingent beneficiaries of the foundation."

This means that if the second Austrian foundation named Laura goes bankrupt after the Benko family private foundation, no more donations will be made from Arual to the Laura Private Foundation. Natural persons would then be considered. A legal protective wall against the Signa bankruptcy tsunami. In case the wave of bankruptcies should also sweep away Benko's Laura Private Foundation.

Villa Ansaldi in Sirmione: marina, helipad and a baroque park

(Bild: Screenshot Google Maps)

Villa Ansaldi showpiece
The Arual Foundation's real estate showpiece is the well-known Villa Ansaldi on Lake Garda, which is held via companies in Switzerland and Luxembourg and served as Signa Holding's representative office in Italy until its insolvency. Marina, helipad and baroque park included. Arual held this property via a Swiss or Luxembourg company, which demanded an annual rent of 420,000 euros for Villa Ansaldi; however, the effective rent was to be reduced to 240,000 euros per year due to high investments by Signa Holding.