René Benko,the Austrian real estate magnate whose Signa Holding collapsed last year,faced a retrial this week concerning allegations of attempted fraudulent insolvency. The case revolves around accusations that Benko and his wife, Nathalie, sought to hide assets totaling roughly $138,000 in cash and luxury watches as their buisness empire faltered. WednesdayS verdict saw Benko receive a 15-month suspended sentence, while Nathalie Benko was acquitted of all charges, marking the latest advancement in a high-profile financial scandal that has gripped Austria.
René Benko, the founder of the Signa real estate empire, received a 15-month suspended sentence Wednesday in a retrial concerning allegations of fraudulent insolvency. The verdict comes less than two months after Benko was initially convicted of similar charges. His wife, Nathalie Benko, was acquitted.
The case centers on accusations that the couple attempted to conceal assets – including cash and luxury watches – as Signa faced financial collapse. Prosecutors alleged that René and Nathalie Benko moved approximately $138,000 in cash and eleven high-value timepieces, including a “Hublot Chronograph Big Bang Ferrari White,” a “Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograf” and an “Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon,” along with watch bands and cufflinks, to a safe deposit box.
Both René and Nathalie Benko denied the charges. The proceedings took place at the Regional Court in Innsbruck, Austria.
After an eight-hour hearing, Judge Heide Maria Paul announced the partial guilty verdict for René Benko, along with the suspended sentence and a fine of 360 daily rates of $14.40. Nathalie Benko was found not guilty. The ruling is subject to appeal.
Prosecutors Tea Krasa and Peter Komenda argued that the couple sought to protect the funds and valuables from creditors by placing them in a safe located in the basement of Nathalie Benko’s aunt. According to the prosecution, the safe was purchased on March 6, 2024, the same day René Benko filed for insolvency proceedings. It was delivered and installed on March 11, two days after bankruptcy proceedings were opened against Benko’s assets.
During the trial, neither René (represented by Norbert Wess) nor Nathalie Benko (represented by Michael Hohenauer) testified. Both maintained their innocence, submitting written statements through their attorneys outlining their accounts of events. Nathalie Benko stated she is currently a full-time mother of three, while René Benko confirmed he has no income and is not receiving financial support; he has been in pre-trial detention since January.
René Benko’s attorney, Wess, strongly criticized the prosecution’s case, calling it “hokuspokus” and claiming that after page ten, it became “science fiction.” Wess asserted that René Benko gifted four watches and two pairs of cufflinks to each of his sons for Christmas 2021 and had occasionally “borrowed” them since. He also stated that three additional watches were given to his wife for her charitable foundation for auction purposes, and all eleven watches were located in the safe.
Regarding the $120,000 in cash, Wess argued it was not an “emergency reserve” but household funds and savings belonging to Nathalie Benko, with $100,000 consisting of 500-euro bills that had not been issued since 2019.
Nathalie Benko’s attorney, Hohenauer, also deemed the prosecution’s case “deficient and flawed.” He expressed outrage that his client was prohibited from visiting or contacting her husband since his January detention, stating she was seeing him “on a platter” after almost a year. Hohenauer further explained that Nathalie Benko purchased the safe to secure her most valuable possessions – seven diamond rings worth approximately $6.7 million – during a move, though the rings were not part of the indictment. He criticized investigators for not acknowledging their existence.
Judge Paul and two lay judges ultimately determined that gifting expensive watches to children is permissible, but noted René Benko’s frequent and careless use of one watch – even while wet on a sailboat – suggested it was his personal property, which he was attempting to conceal. This led to the conviction for attempting to hide two watches and four pairs of cufflinks. The remaining watches and the cash were deemed to be of uncertain ownership, resulting in the acquittal of both René and Nathalie Benko on those counts.
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