Benko gets two more years in prison for aggravated fraud

The case centred on a notarised guarantee worth about €5 million ($5.6 million) that Benko gave in November 2023 to the family trust of Austrian industrialist Hans Peter Haselsteiner. It was linked to an investment in Signa that Benko needed to keep sporting goods retailer SportScheck afloat; the retailer filed for insolvency within a month.

Presiding Judge Norbert Hofer said the guarantee was patently false and providing it was “the dumbest thing you could do”. He also acknowledged that Benko had worked tirelessly at the time to save what he called his life's work. Benko was acquitted of insolvency-related fraud, the charge on which he was convicted in his two previous trials.

Neither the defence nor the prosecution said whether they would appeal. They have three working days to decide. Benko’s lawyer, Norbert Wess, said his client would remain under house arrest with an ankle monitor while an appeal remained possible. What would happen afterward was unclear. Wess told reporters Benko was “definitely disappointed” with the ruling.

The trial was the third case against the 49-year-old since his arrest in January last year. All are connected to an ongoing investigation into possible crimes related to the collapse of Signa, the property group he founded. At its peak, Signa owned or held stakes in luxury properties including five-star hotels in Venice and Vienna and New York’s Chrysler Building, as well as department store chains Selfridges in Britain and Globus in Switzerland. The group’s collapse began with insolvency filings in late 2023 and became the biggest bankruptcy in Austria’s history, causing heavy losses for investors, including wealthy individuals and blue-chip companies in Germany and Switzerland.