The insolvency-related fraud trial of fallen Austrian property tycoon Rene Benko entered its second day on Wednesday, with a ruling expected in the afternoon in the first case connected to the collapse of his Signa property empire.
Signa became the biggest casualty of Europe's property downturn when some of its main units filed for insolvency in 2023. Prosecutors are conducting a sprawling investigation into possible crimes committed, and estimate the related damage caused at around 300 million euros ($349 million).
The case being heard in Benko's home city of Innsbruck this week deals with just a fraction of that sum - about 660,000 euros in total which prosecutors allege Benko diverted in an attempt to keep the money beyond the reach of creditors in the context of his insolvency as an entrepreneur.
Benko has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer Norbert Wess told the court the accusation was "absurd". Benko faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The case centres on two lump sums including up-front rent and other payments of around 360,000 euros in 2023, the year major Signa units filed for insolvency, for a house in Innsbruck that prosecutors argue made no sense because the property was in need of repair and uninhabitable at the time.
The remaining 300,000 euros were ostensibly a gift to his mother, prosecutors said.
His lawyer Wess said there was nothing improper about the payments and that Benko moved into the house with his family sooner than prosecutors alleged.
With only a handful of witnesses due to be heard, a ruling was likely to be issued later on Wednesday. It is the first of two cases prosecutors have brought against Benko so far.
($1 = 0.8598 euros)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that U.S. President Donald Trump had been misled by disinformation on Tehran’s peaceful nuclear prog...
The insolvency-related fraud trial of fallen Austrian property tycoon Rene Benko entered its second day on Wednesday, with a ruling expected in the af...
President Ilham Aliyev has described urban planning as a "priority direction" in Azerbaijan’s national development strategy, in an address to an int...
Hungary would suffer if it was cut off from Russian energy, Budapest's foreign minister said during a visit to Moscow on Wednesday, reiterating that t...
Brussels is facing one of its toughest political tests yet. The Patriots for Europe, now the third-largest bloc in the European Parliament, have filed...
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that U.S. President Donald Trump had been misled by disinformation on Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program which led him to order an attack on Iran in June.
President Ilham Aliyev has described urban planning as a "priority direction" in Azerbaijan’s national development strategy, in an address to an international forum which opened in the city of Khankendi on Wednesday.
Hungary would suffer if it was cut off from Russian energy, Budapest's foreign minister said during a visit to Moscow on Wednesday, reiterating that the country would not accept outside pressure when it came to decisions on its energy supplies.
Madagascar is facing its most severe political crisis in over a decade as President Andry Rajoelina has reportedly fled the country following weeks of protests over water shortages, blackouts, and corruption.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
The war in Ukraine has reached a strategic impasse, and it seems that the conflict will not be solved by military means. This creates a path toward one of two alternatives: either a “frozen” phase that can last indefinitely or a quest for a durable political regulation.
Hungary would suffer if it was cut off from Russian energy, Budapest's foreign minister said during a visit to Moscow on Wednesday, reiterating that the country would not accept outside pressure when it came to decisions on its energy supplies.
Brussels is facing one of its toughest political tests yet. The Patriots for Europe, now the third-largest bloc in the European Parliament, have filed a formal motion of no-confidence against Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission.
Toxic gas and a locked door that barred access to a roof were responsible for most of the deaths in a devastating fire in a Bangladesh garment factory and an adjoining chemical warehouse, a fire official said on Wednesday.
A U.S. strike on a boat off the coast of Venezuela on Tuesday killed six suspected drug traffickers, President Donald Trump said, the latest such operation in recent weeks as the U.S. builds up military forces in the region.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for 15 October, covering the latest developments you need to know.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment