The magnate was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of falsifying an invoice and trying to hide assets from creditors, according to prosecutors.
Rene Benko, the property tycoon and founder of the now collapsed company Signa, has been arrested on suspicion of fraud, Austrian prosecutors have said.
The magnate was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of falsifying an invoice and trying to hide assets from creditors, according to prosecutors.
“The prosecutors’ office in charge of economic crimes and corruption ordered the arrest of Signa founder Rene Benko”, said a statement from their office.
Signa was Austria’s largest privately owned property company until it declared insolvency in July last year. At the time, Benko was accused by Austria’s state prosecutor of failing to pay promised fees linked to the insolvency of Signa Group’s holding company as a business owner.
Benko became a self-made billionaire by building Signa into a pan-European company and overseeing numerous high-profile acquisitions, including the landmark KaDeWe retail store in central Berlin and the Elbtower project in Hamburg.
Benko’s defence lawyer Norbert Wess confirmed the arrest to local newspaper KURIER, saying: “A court must first decide within 48 hours whether he will remain in custody.”
