Ex-supervisory board members

New Signa claim against Gusenbauer and Riess-Hahn

Further claims against Susanne Riess-Hahn and Alfred Gusenbauer from the ailing Signa construct became known.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER, APA/HARALD SCHNEIDER)

Their involvement in René Benko's ailing Signa Group is likely to continue to cost some ex-supervisory board members dearly. After the claims from the insolvent Signa Prime, the administrator of Signa Development has now also registered claims.

The Signa Development insolvency administrator Andrea Fruhstorfer is demanding the remuneration of the Supervisory Board members for the years 2022 and 2023. The claims are once again directed at former Social Democratic Party Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer (488,000 euros), former Vice Chancellor and current Wüstenrot CEO Susanne Riess-Hahn (218,000 euros) and former RBI CEO Karl Sevelda (308,000 euros). All three had already been asked to pay by Signa Prime, which was also insolvent, with Gusenbauer paying 296,000 euros and Riess-Hahn 50,000 euros - we reported.

Signa Development already bankrupt in 2022 according to report
As the current report to the Vienna Commercial Court on the Signa Development Selection now shows, "four actions for avoidance were filed in the course of December", according to the "Salzburger Nachrichten". In the remaining cases, lawsuits were being prepared or out-of-court negotiations had been initiated. In the case of Signa Development, too, the allegation is that it was already apparent in spring 2022 that the group was insolvent, but no action was taken. Out-of-court negotiations were initiated in all cases.

According to the interim report, two ex-supervisory board members have already repaid their fees. The Signa Development insolvency administrator is demanding EUR 3.6 million back from Timo Herzberg, the former board member of Signa Prime and Development, who was dismissed without notice in December 2023 due to "suspected gross breaches of duty". According to the report, "despite an invitation, no settlement negotiations have yet been entered into".

Legal dispute with RAG Foundation, tax office and auditor
Fruhstorfer is also demanding the return of a dividend payment of EUR 3.2 million from Signa Development shareholder RAG Stiftung. The trustee in bankruptcy has also filed a lawsuit against the tax office for large companies in the amount of EUR 10.6 million. The insolvency administrator had settled with one of the financing banks, which had apparently transferred back 8.2 million euros. 

In addition, Fruhstorfer has filed a claim for damages against TPA Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatung for EUR 12 million. The firm neither audited nor certified the Signa annual financial statements. "TPA was not and has never been Signa's auditor," the law firm told APA in a statement. The 2021 and 2022 annual financial statements of Signa Development were audited by KPMG, according to the annual financial statements filed in the commercial register.

Signa Development in bankruptcy since December
Signa Development's reorganization proceedings were converted into bankruptcy proceedings at the end of 2024. A number of plots and properties in Vienna, Cologne, Wolfsburg and Frankfurt were sold. A good dozen properties are still there, negotiations are ongoing, standstill agreements have been agreed with banks or investors or "no stabilization measures" are necessary, according to the report. Of the registered claims of 2.2 billion euros, 1.52 billion have so far been recognized and 676.5 million disputed. According to the report, 87.4 million euros have been filed subsequently and will be examined until the beginning of March. There are also subordinated claims of 334.7 million euros.

The insolvency administrator of Signa Prime Selection AG, in which company founder René Benko parked the luxury properties, stepped up the pace at the beginning of the year to raise money for the creditors. 13 months after filing for insolvency, the insolvency administrator Norbert Abel sent letters of liability to four former members of the management board and twelve former members of the supervisory board of Signa Prime shortly before the turn of the year 2025. Abel holds them responsible for damages amounting to at least one billion euros.