New dynamite

Benko: tax advisor under suspicion of money laundering

Karin Fuhrmann has been on the board of the Benko Family Private Foundation since 2011

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/R.Wiedergut picturedesk.com Christian Forcher, EXPA / APA / picturedesk.com Stock Adobe APA/AFP/Joe Klamar)

Shortly before the billion-euro bankruptcy of Signa Holding in 2023, 35.35 million euros were sent around the circle. Now the CEO of the Benko family private foundation is also under investigation.

Karin Fuhrmann is considered one of the most renowned tax consultants in the country. The 59-year-old partner at the law firm TPA has been showered with awards in recent years, particularly in the real estate sector. Especially at the height of the industry, from 2015 to 2019.

Karin Fuhrmann has been listed as a defendant in the Benko complex since the beginning of 2025: first in the case surrounding an alleged coronavirus funding fraud in connection with Chalet N., and now also in connection with a capital increase that was attempted in the summer of 2023, just a few months before the Signa Group's major collapse. This emerges from documents available to the "Krone".

The sleight of hand
The "money carousel" is about a potential sleight of hand that René Benko is said to have used in collaboration with his closest confidants as part of a capital increase at Signa Holding in the summer of 2023. At that time, the holding company was already in a precarious situation, which is why the investors were supposed to inject a final total of 350 million euros.

Benko is said to have given the impression that he was setting a good example by pouring in EUR 35.35 million via his Benko Family Private Foundation, in which Fuhrmann has served as CEO since 2011. In reality, however, the 35.35 million is said to have been withdrawn from the Signa Group and sent on its way via several accounts and companies to end up back in the Signa sphere. Labeled "fresh equity".

"Origin of the amount concealed"
 The Public Prosecutor's Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption (WKStA) now suspects Fuhrmann of having been involved in this game. A document available to the "Krone" states, among other things: Fuhrmann had "approved the onward transfer of the amount under the name 'capital increase' from the bank account of the Benko family private foundation to Signa Holding GmbH" "as well as concealed the origin of the amount by commissioning the subsequent creation of a fictitious loan agreement and foundation board resolution relating to the transfer (...)".

Fuhrmann denies all allegations; the presumption of innocence applies. Her legal representative announced via a spokesperson that her client is cooperating "closely and intensively" with the investigating authorities and that there is no doubt "that the facts suspected by the WKStA will be cleared up quickly and completely".