Lake Garda villas

Benko: House searches by the WKStA in Luxembourg

At the end of June, investigators combed through the Benko property in Tyrol, among other places. Now the Signa branch in Luxembourg has been raided.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof/Krone KREATIV)

The next bombshell in the affair surrounding Austria's best-known bankrupt: investigators have combed through Signa offices in the Grand Duchy.

As part of the investigation into Signa founder René Benko, the Public Prosecutor's Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption (WKStA) ordered house searches in Luxembourg on Tuesday. This was the result of investigations by "Krone" and "News", which were confirmed by the WKStA on Tuesday evening. The raid was carried out by way of administrative assistance proceedings with the criminal authorities in the Grand Duchy. Benko's opaque Signa Group is known to have set up a large number of companies in Luxembourg over the years.

Suspected asset transfers
The current case concerns asset transfers in connection with the "Villa Eden Gardone" project. On August 17, 2023, when the Signa Group was already up to its neck financially, Benko received a refusal from Korea to provide EUR 400 million in financing. He then wrote a four-letter word to his CFO Manuel Pirolt: "FUCK".

Then it all happened in quick succession: on August 18, 2023, just one day after the Korean rejection, a highly dubious deal was put in writing and completed within the Signa Group. At the center of the deal is a Benko foundation, which is apparently intended as the last safe bunker for Benko's millions: the INGBE from the discreet Liechtenstein, established in 2014 by Benko and his mother Ingeborg.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV, zVg.)

Six dream villas are transferred to the INGBE Foundation
On August 18, 2023, the INGBE Foundation based in Vaduz transferred its 578,905 shares in Signa Prime, which were almost worthless due to insolvency a few months later, to Signa Holding for 46 million euros. In return, as a swap deal, six valuable dream villas on Lake Garda, designed by star architect David Chipperfield, were transferred to the Benkos' INGBE Foundation for exactly the same amount.

Was Benko the "central decision-maker"?
According to the WKStA's suspicions, Benko is to be seen as the "central decision-maker and driving force behind the transactions" in this deal. However, the authorities are also targeting the former Signa Holding managing director Christoph Stadlhuber and the long-standing Signa CFO Manuel Pirolt.

The presumption of innocence applies to all those named.

A Luxembourg Signa company was involved in the deal. The WKStA is apparently searching for documents relating to this suspicious swap deal.