Austrian court convicts Rene Benko again, extends sentence to 30 months

An Austrian court on Tuesday convicted former property tycoon Rene Benko on an additional count of insolvency fraud at a retrial, extending his prison sentence to 30 months from the two years originally imposed.

The ruling in Innsbruck, Benko's home city, is the first to arise from a broader criminal investigation into the failure of the Signa property group he founded. Signa's collapse in late 2023 became Austria's largest post-war bankruptcy and left investors across Europe facing losses.

Benko was convicted in October on one count of insolvency fraud over a transfer of €300,000, equivalent to about $344,000, made to his mother in late 2023, when Signa was already under financial strain. The court found the payment was designed to place the funds beyond the reach of creditors.

He was acquitted at that time on a second count concerning an advance rent payment of roughly €360,000 for a house in Innsbruck, which prosecutors argued had no economic justification. Both sides appealed, and Austria's Supreme Court upheld the initial conviction while ordering a retrial on the second charge.

At the conclusion of the one-day retrial, the court announced that Benko had been found guilty over the rent payment. It also acquitted him over additional operating expenses for the house that had likewise been paid in advance.