Silent appearance

A bang in Innsbruck: Benko in the courtroom

(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

The real estate juggler René Benko has recently made himself extremely scarce as a result of his fatal company bankruptcy. Now, however, he has made a surprise appearance in court in Innsbruck. The case concerns his insolvency as an entrepreneur - 47 million of the approximately 2 billion euro claims were recognized.

The date was important for him as he had cited it as an excuse for his absence from the committee of inquiry on Wednesday. This was Benko's first public appearance since the real estate group's financial difficulties and the insolvencies of numerous Signa companies.

Would not have had to appear in person
The entrepreneur, dressed in a suit and tie, remained silent in front of the numerous journalists, photographers and camera teams present. Benko entered the courtroom at 10.26 am, the hearing started at 10.30 am and he left the courtroom again at 11.34 am. Almost at a run, he immediately continued on foot to the Tyrol department store.

According to eyewitnesses, he seemed very nervous, like a "startled chicken", he ignored all media representatives and did not speak a single word. He also refused to answer questions, but hurried into the courtroom accompanied by his lawyer. By law, Benko was not actually required to appear in person at the hearing in his home town.

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The bankruptcy proceedings relate to Benko's consulting firm and all of his private assets, including those abroad. After the hearing, trustee Andreas Grabenweger told journalists that around 2 billion euros in claims had been asserted by 30 creditors. 47 million euros of these were recognized.

High litigation risk for creditors
However, the remaining 1.95 billion euros were disputed. Grabenweger and the two creditor protection associations KSV1870 and AKV Europa explained that these creditors would have the opportunity to assert or sue for their claims in separate civil proceedings.

However, the Kreditschutzverband von 1870 spoke of a high litigation risk in terms of high court costs in this case. If the separate proceedings are lost for the creditors, they would have to bear the entire costs of the "declaratory proceedings" - both their own and those of the insolvency estate.

Claims primarily affect Signa Group
However, the insolvency administrator emphasized that a number of documents could still be submitted or would have to be submitted later. If these were found to be sufficient, the corresponding claims of creditors could also be recognized retrospectively.

According to the creditors' representatives, the majority of the registered claims, some of which were disputed by the insolvency administrator, come from creditors of the Signa Group, who are now also asserting their claims against Benko personally.

A lot of money is at stake
An "initial inventory" was carried out at the hearing, court spokeswoman Birgit Fink emphasized. This means: How many assets and liabilities or liabilities are there? How many claims are there and how much of these are recognized? 25 to 30 creditors have registered claims against the fallen Signa founder and alleged multi-billionaire.

The amounts are said to range from relatively small to considerable millions. In any case, the court intends to communicate the size of the recognized claims, among other things, in a press release on Wednesday, it was announced.

Benko comes before the U-Committee after all
There is also news regarding the sub-committee summons. Benko's lawyer Norbert Wess has now made a "binding" commitment, according to a letter to National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka.