Ex-property tycoon Benko found guilty

An Austrian court found former property billionaire Rene Benko guilty of one count ofinsolvency-related fraud on Wednesday — his first criminal conviction related to the collapse of his real estate group Signa — but cleared him ona second count.

- FRANCOIS MURPHY ALEXANDRA SCHWARZ-GOERLICH

The court in his home city of Innsbruck handed him a two-year prison sentence over a transfer of €300,000 ($348,600) to his mother, ruling that it was an attempt to keep the money from creditors.

Signa became the biggest casualty of Europe's property downturn when, some of its main units filed for insolvency in 2023. Prosecutors are still conducting a sprawling investigation into possible crimes committed and estimate the related damage caused at around €300 million.

This week’s case focused on only a fraction of that sum — about €660,000 in total — which prosecutors alleged Benko diverted in an attempt to keep the money beyond the reach of creditors in the context of his insolvency as an entrepreneur.