Months before bankruptcy
René Benko acquires a second million-dollar horse
A few months before the crash of his Signa Group, Benko lived up to his reputation as a string-puller for deals in an unusual business field: the financial juggler, who had to constantly search for liquid funds within the Group in 2023, had a second expensive horse purchased for his foundation's stables.
The "Krone" had already reported on the purchase of the show jumper "Chageorge" at the beginning of February 2024: According to the report, the Tyrolean real estate speculator instructed his confidants at the end of July 2023 to transfer the remaining installment for the purchase of the 2.38 million euro horse via an account of his Laura Private Foundation. A deal that is surprising from today's perspective, not only because of the proximity in time to the outbreak of the bankruptcy tsunami, but also because of the horse's sporting history: the now nine-year-old stallion "Chageorge" had only won prize money amounting to 580 euros before the purchase by a company of the Benko Foundation.
Chageorge" is ridden by German Olympic starter Christian Kukuk, and the horse is stabled with Ludger Beerbaum, the world's second most successful show jumper of all time. Kukuk and Beerbaum also play a role in Benko's second million-dollar horse, according to documents obtained by "Krone" and "News".
"Just be Gentle" also cost 2.38 million
Because René Benko and Ludger Beerbaum had already reached an agreement on the purchase of "Just be Gentle" at the end of March 2023. The ten-year-old mare had won the Doha Grand Prix shortly beforehand and could also generate income as a broodmare.
The purchase price is remarkable: Laura AT 2020 Eins GmbH, a company owned by the Benkos' Laura Private Foundation, which is officially listed as the buyer of the horses, was to pay exactly 2.38 million euros for both "Just be Gentle" and the less successful "Chageorge". The 2.38 million euros for "Just be Gentle" went to Beerbaum Stables GmbH, based in Riesenbeck, Germany. Beerbaum's noble steeds are stabled there.
On the longlist for the Olympics in Paris
"Just by Gentle" is also ridden by Christian Kukuk. In contrast to "Chageorge", the animal at least seems to be able to justify the high purchase price: It is a fixed starter at major show jumping series and was recently even on the German show jumpers' longlist for the Olympic Games. However, only horses that have at least one co-owner of the same nationality as the rider are allowed to compete at the Olympics. The head trainer of the German show jumpers is Otto Becker, who has also been well acquainted with Benko for several years.
"Just be Gentle" and "Chageorge" are therefore officially owned by Laura AT 2020 Eins GmbH under the Benkos' Laura Foundation umbrella. However, there are two striking facts about both 2.38 million transactions that the many creditors of bankrupt Benko are unlikely to find amusing:
Was Benko the de facto head of the Laura Foundation?
On the one hand, Benko, who officially claims to have nothing to do with the Laura Private Foundation, was deeply involved in the handling of the horse transactions and in the purchase decision; without his "go" nothing worked. Available documents on the purchase of the horses indicate that René Benko is probably the de facto managing director of the Laura Private Foundation.
Secondly, installment payments had been agreed between real estate speculator Benko and equestrian legend Ludger Beerbaum for the purchase of "Just Be Gentle": 1.38 million euros on 15 April 2023, the remaining million on 20 March 2024. At the time, René Benko had already filed for bankruptcy at the Innsbruck Regional Court. Since then, he has been considered penniless and only claims to have an income of 3,700 euros, which insolvency administrators and investigators doubt.
Is thereanother expensive horse in the foundation?
René Benko said via his lawyer: "As is well known, the Laura Private Foundation has been investing in show jumpers for some time and these are ridden professionally by Christian Kukuk." The Benko lawyer did not want to comment on the question of whether another million-dollar horse is parked in Benko's Laura Foundation. However, persistent rumors about this have been circulating in the international equestrian scene for many months.
In the aforementioned Laura AT 2020 Eins GmbH, which is part of the Laura Foundation, the Benkos at least provided a touch more transparency after the "Krone" revelation about "Chageorge" in February 2024. Since May 2024, at the request of Benko's longstanding head of finance Manuel Pirolt, the business purpose has read, among other things "Keeping and selling horses."
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