Investor: René Benko kommt aus dem Gefängnis – und muss nun Fußfessel tragen
Erst im September kam der Signa-Gründer hinter Gitter, jetzt darf er das Gefängnis verlassen. Benkos Verteidiger begründet den Schritt mit besserer Vorbereitung auf weitere Prozesse.
Former real estate investor René Benko, convicted of fraud, has switched from prison to house arrest with ankle monitoring, according to a ruling by the Landesgericht Innsbruck. The court granted an application by Signa founder Benko, as reported by the German Press Agency. His lawyer, Norbert Wess, had previously argued that the move was necessary for better preparation for upcoming trials.
Benko was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in September for damaging his creditors. The court deemed that the 49-year-old had harmed his creditors by paying €360,000 in advance rent for a villa, despite being on the brink of insolvency in September 2023. The villa, owned by a privately-owned Laura Foundation bearing Benko's daughter's name, had been uninhabitable due to a landslide.
Benko had paid the rent and operating costs for four years in advance, despite the funds ultimately returning to the Laura Foundation through a financial rollercoaster. He was initially sentenced to two years in prison in October 2025 for the alleged advance rent, but the Supreme Court overturned the conviction on one aspect. Benko has been in pre-trial detention since January 2025 and his empire, Signa, was built on a billion-dollar fortune.
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