{
  "id": 18343080,
  "title": "Angeklagter mit Fußfessel: Signa-Gründer Benko wegen Millionenbetrugs verurteilt",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/angeklagter-mit-fu-fessel-signa-grunder-benko-wegen-millionenbetrugs",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-11-05T16:45:35.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/angeklagter-mit-fussfessel-signa-gruender-benko-wegen-millionenbetrugs-verurteilt/100267696.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Austrian real estate mogul René Benko has been sentenced to six years in prison for massive fraud, including an additional two-year sentence for defrauding an investor of five million euros, according to a spokesperson for the Innsbruck Regional Court. The court found it proven that Benko, founder of the Signa Group, had harmed an investor by providing a \"false guarantee\" to secure the five million euro payment, as reported by Austrian media. The verdict is not yet final. Benko previously served a sentence of two and a half years for damaging creditors. This extends his previous sentence of two and a half years for damaging creditors, previously imposed in a prior trial. The court accepted the prosecution's argument that Benko defrauded the industrialist Hans Peter Haselsteiner's private foundation by misleading the investor about a \"false guarantee\" for the five million euro payment. Benko, founder of the Immobiliengruppe Signa and former CEO of the construction company Strabag, had been closely connected to the business for years. Prosecutors stated that Benko needed the money urgently at the beginning of November 2023 for his Sportscheck subsidiary, and only the guarantee declaration from Haselsteiner's private foundation convinced him to make the payment. The declaration was made shortly before the Signa insolvency. The prosecutor argued that it served only to deceive and that Benko never intended to repay Haselsteiner the money. The 49-year-old defendant denied the accusations, while Haselsteiner, as a witness, emphasized the importance of the guarantee. He claimed he was asked for five million euros and would not have released the funds without Benko's promise. Benko was acquitted of a second charge, but the court found him not guilty of hiding an 80,000 euro luxury hunting rifle from creditors. Earlier, Benko had been sentenced to 30 months in prison for damaging creditors. He had made a 360,000 euro deposit for a house in Innsbruck, even though his Signa business empire was already in critical condition.",
  "summary": "René Benko soll einem Investor mit einer Garantie fünf Millionen Euro entlockt haben. Das Gericht folgte der Darstellung der Anklage. Weitere Ermittlungen gegen den Ex-Milliardär laufen.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Der Standard Wirtschaft",
        "title": "Fraud at Haselsteiner Foundation? Trial against Benko continues",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/betrug-an-haselsteiner-stiftung-prozess-gegen-benko-geht-weiter",
        "published": "2026-11-05T07:05:35.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}