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Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has demanded the eviction of the family of bankrupt European property tycoon René Benko from their palatial home in Innsbruck, as it seeks to recover millions in losses from the collapse of the Signa Group.
In a letter seen by the Financial Times, lawyers acting for a subsidiary of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) wrote to the trustees of the Laura Foundation, a Liechtenstein-based entity that was used by Benko to manage his personal wealth, demanding it cease all payments to beneficiaries.
“We . . . urgently demand that the Laura Foundation takes all steps to immediately remove the Benko family from the property located at Viller Steig, Innsbruck-Igls, which is owned by a Laura Foundation subsidiary,” the letter, dated January 27, reads.
The demand is a stark illustration of how far Benko has fallen.
At the height of his success he was one of Europe’s wealthiest property entrepreneurs, feted by senior politicians in German-speaking Europe.
For a time, few luxury properties seemed beyond his grasp: with partner investors, he acquired Selfridges in London, KaDeWe in Berlin and the Chrysler building in New York.
The house at Viller Steig 2, situated on a plateau overlooking the western Austrian city of Innsbruck, was Benko’s main residence and is one of the most ostentatious properties in the Alps.
It was purpose-built by Benko in 2018, after the demolition of a large hotel on the site.
His property empire fuelled a conspicuously lavish lifestyle — with luxury homes dotted around Europe — that lasted up until Signa’s implosion 16 months ago.
Hours before Signa’s collapse began in November 2023, Benko was pictured taking his personal private jet to Barcelona from his home in Austria for an afternoon of shopping with his wife.
Investors in Signa are now owed billions. The Saudi PIF is one of the single largest creditors. In total, the PIF is owed hundreds of millions by collapsed Signa entities.
Administrators have warned creditors that they are likely to only regain a fraction of their money.
The sprawling nature of the Signa Group — which was made up of hundreds of individual companies, with no centrally consolidated accounts — has complicated recovery efforts.
The extent to which Benko’s own personal financial affairs were entangled with group entities is now in particular focus.
Last month Benko was arrested by Austrian police.
Prosecutors have accused him of making inaccurate statements during insolvency proceedings in an attempt to embezzle assets.
The Laura Foundation — named after Benko’s daughter — is also at the centre of their investigation. They allege he maintains control of the foundation at an arms length and used it to hide the true scale of his wealth.
“He hid assets and excluded wealth that was kept in the foundation from the law enforcement authorities, the administrator and creditors,” they said in a statement, pointing to evidence gathered in a multi-month investigation that included telephone surveillance.
The Financial Times last year reported that a Signa Group company transferred more than €300mn to two entities controlled by that foundation before the insolvency.
Benko’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
His lawyer said in December that Benko denied the charges against him. “Any allegations against him can be clarified as substantively incorrect,” he said.
The Saudi PIF declined to comment.
Additional reporting by Ahmed Al Omran
https://www.ft.com/content/d310b527-168a-4261-8cb9-548b38cf0a18
