In the sights of the judiciary

Benko hunting: what questions prosecutors ask

Signa founder René Benko has now also dragged Georg Dornauer into the downward spiral.

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH, APA/BARBARA GINDL, Krone KREATIV)

Hunting enthusiasts who seek their salvation with René Benko in noble hunting grounds can quickly find themselves in the sights of investigators. Especially when they are not allowed to carry a weapon and turn up with a billionaire bankrupt with a gun in the Stüblergut estate on the Styrian Gaberl, which is valued at 30 million euros. 

As is well known, the estate belongs to a subsidiary of the Benkos' Laura Private Foundation - and this fact is also likely to play a role in the investigation, which has now been transferred from the public prosecutor's office in Graz to Innsbruck.

Regardless of who fired the shot on September 28, 2024 and killed the 74-kilogram Class III stag: As a member of the provincial government, a deputy governor like Georg Dornauer should not be privately invited to a hunt, even if it is only to take part and he does not even receive the spoils.

According to legal experts, the invitation alone (which Dornauer vehemently denies, note) as such corresponds to an asset value that is above the de minimis limit - especially if you are stalking in an estate of the Benko Foundation and are accompanied by a chief forester who is employed there professionally. This is regulated in the relevant provisions of the Criminal Code (acceptance or granting of advantages).

The case law here is very strict, and the public prosecutor's offices have already gained some experience with the feeding paragraph.

Will the foundation be drawn? 
 The role of the Benko Foundation also appears interesting: since the emergence of the juicy hunting photo, it is not only the Austrian media that have been asking why René Benko can continue to live in luxury despite his personal bankruptcy. Even the renowned "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" recently noted with some irritation in an article entitled "René Benko blows the whistle": "Bankruptcy does not necessarily mean poverty." Thanks to his mother's contributions, the "financial juggler can continue to enjoy an extravagant lifestyle".

However, the September Halali could also bring the foundation into the investigators' sights: As René Benko officially no longer has anything to do with the Laura Private Foundation, the foundation or its bodies could be prosecuted as possible inviters under the Verbandsverantwortlichkeitsgesetz (Law on the Responsibility of Associations).

Judicial experts also believe that an embezzlement offense is possible: if illustrious hunting trips are not compatible with the purpose and guidelines of the foundation.