Hidden luxury weapons and gifts to his mother. How René Benko continues to deceive until the very end

In late autumn 2023, René Benko's life was in a state of hectic activity. The signs pointed to a storm at his Signa Group. The real estate and retail group was running out of financial resources. At the end of November 2023, the parent company, Signa Holding, was forced to file for insolvency. As a result, the entire Signa group, with more than a thousand companies, collapsed. The bankruptcy caused billions in damages.

During this period, a series of transactions took place in the Signa environment, which Austrian investigators are now also interested in. Among other things, the 48-year-old Tyrolean sold 14 of his hunting weapons to a subsidiary of the Laura Private Foundation. Investigators assume that the Signa founder wanted to hide the weapons from his creditors. He kept his hunting weapons at home. During a house search in June 2024, they were seized from his villa in Innsbruck.

For Benko, a passionate hunter, hunting was always an important means of maintaining contacts and developing business. He regularly invited politicians and investors. Signa owned several hunting grounds in Austria, including in Burgenland, Styria, and Tyrol. Such a lifestyle is not possible without luxurious hunting weapons, as the investigators' final report, which was obtained by the "NZZ am Sonntag," reveals. It estimates the total value of Benko's hunting weapons at €374,000.

These included a double-barreled rifle from the Austrian manufacturer Scheiring, valued at €80,000, as well as two double-barreled shotguns from the British gunsmith Holland & Holland. The weapons, bearing the initials "RB" on the stock, date from 1935 and are housed in their original cases lined with red velvet – each valued at €20,000. René Benko is in good company: Holland & Holland's clients range from members of the British royal family to American tech millionaires who have discovered their passion for hunting.

The ownership details of the individual weapons are complex – not all belonged to René Benko directly; some belonged to Signa. However, investigators assume that by selling the weapons, he essentially shifted them from the Signa sphere to the sphere of the Laura Foundation, thus harming his creditors, as they write in the final report. Creditors and authorities suspect that the majority of Benko's remaining assets are in this private foundation, of which his mother, Ingeborg Benko, is the beneficiary.

Specifically, investigators accuse René Benko of fraudulent bankruptcy. In Switzerland, this offense is most comparable to fraudulent bankruptcy. Benko himself denies the accusation. He is presumed innocent. He claims that not all of the hunting weapons actually belonged to him. He also considers the "RB" insignia affixed to some shotguns to be no evidence of this. In his opinion, the Signa founder stated during an interrogation that it is incomprehensible to any legal expert to legally derive beneficial ownership from insignia.

It has not yet been determined whether the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption (WKStA) will file charges against René Benko for the sale of the hunting weapons. In any case, this is only one aspect of the overall Signa bankruptcy.

The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) is investigating a total of twelve cases against Benko and several of his former associates, accusing him of, among other things, serious fraud, breach of trust, and fraudulent bankruptcy. In addition, there are numerous proceedings by creditors and insolvency administrators who also want to get their hands on the Signa founder's remaining assets.

The first trial against René Benko will take place in Innsbruck in mid-October. Here, too, the prosecution accuses him of stashing money in connection with the Signa bankruptcy and concealing it from his creditors. According to the indictment, this concerns an "economically and factually impermissible" advance rent payment for René Benko's house in Innsbruck's Hungerburg district. In October 2023, he transferred the rent for a full four years, amounting to €360,000.

The public prosecutor's office rejected his argument that such advance payments were standard practice in the industry. Furthermore, the indictment states that René Benko could have foreseen bankruptcy filing by fall 2023 at the latest. Throughout the entire year, the Signa founder had been able to finance himself largely only through payments and loans from foundations attributable to him, such as the Laura Private Foundation and the Ingbe Foundation.

In addition, the house on Hungerburg was not even habitable at the time. There had been a landslide and water damage. René Benko's wife, Nathalie, and their children have since moved in – but not until the end of February 2025.

The second allegation concerns a gift of €300,000 to his mother, Ingeborg Benko, made by the Signa founder on November 29, 2023. The public prosecutor's office considers this gift abusive, partly because Signa Holding filed for insolvency on the same day.

During his interrogations, René Benko repeatedly attempted to portray himself as a legal layman. The prosecution denies this. He claims to have a far above-average level of knowledge in the field. They also attest to his "exceptionally good understanding of economics," as the indictment states. He further stated that he was aware of the "economic significance" of his actions.

The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office must prove in court that René Benko intentionally harmed his creditors. If convicted, he faces up to ten years in prison. The exact sentence is difficult to predict. However, legal experts believe the prosecution must be confident in its case, as it filed charges relatively quickly. It is also possible that the authorities want to take advantage of the current momentum and file further charges against the Signa founder soon.

René Benko himself has been in pretrial detention in Vienna since January. He stated at his last detention review in August that this was taking its toll on him. He complained that he only had an outdated tablet and no access to current files. The judge was unimpressed. Benko will likely remain in custody until the start of the trial.