Trial in Innsbruck
Lawyer: “Mrs. Benko is anything but well”
While René Benko is in custody in Vienna, the trial surrounding the bankrupt's foundation structure began in Innsbruck on Thursday. Benko's mother, Ingeborg, stayed away from the hearing, but it still got down to business. The "Krone" was there.
Benko's lawyer Hermann Pfurtscheller appeared confident of victory in court, for him the whole thing was actually a clear-cut matter: Ingeborg Benko was "the wrong person", Benko's foundation should have been sued right away and not his mother - who is, however, one of the main beneficiaries of the Laura Private Foundation. Nevertheless, the whole matter was "ready for a decision", emphasized Pfurtscheller, arguing that Benko's mother "lacked passive legitimacy".
Probably no quick decision
His opponent in court: trustee Andreas Grabenweger, who is trying to crack open the Benkos' multi-million euro foundation bunkers in Innsbruck (Laura) and Liechtenstein (INGBE). Naturally, he sees things differently. After an hour, the hearing was already over.
However, it remains to be seen whether the judge will actually follow the arguments of the Benko defense counsel. In any case, there is unlikely to be a quick decision; he wants to take "the next few weeks" for this, he said. Depending on what he decides, it could be a quick process - or it could take years.
Will his wife and sister have to testify?
The case surrounding the Benko foundations is made even more complex by Liechtenstein foundation law. And another factor could significantly complicate the Innsbruck proceedings: If, for example, Benko's wife Nathalie and his sister Verena are called to testify in court, they could recuse themselves if they are officially listed as defendants by the Public Prosecutor's Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption. The WKStA is already investigating the sister at least - we reported.
It remains to be seen whether Ingeborg Benko will appear in court at the next hearing. Lawyer Pfurtscheller only told the "Tiroler Krone" newspaper after the hearing: "Mrs. Benko is doing anything but well - anyone can imagine that."
47 million in claims in the bankruptcy proceedings
The bankruptcy proceedings against Benko as an entrepreneur were opened in March 2024. The court has so far recognized claims amounting to 47 million euros, with creditors having asserted two billion euros in claims. Even a subsequent verification hearing at the end of September did not result in any significant changes to the sum. According to observers, the bankruptcy proceedings will continue for "many years".
On Wednesday, other Signa companies from the former construct of more than a thousand companies also filed for bankruptcy. According to Creditreform, these are Laura Warenhaus Premium Immobilien Management GmbH, Laura Warenhaus Premium Immobilien Beteiligung GmbH and Laura Warenhaus Premium Immobilien Co-Invest GmbH & Co KG. Laura Privatstiftung holds a stake in these companies via Laura Holding.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.