Grasser plays soccer

Benko shares cell with a Hells Angels rocker

The everyday lives of René Benko and Karl-Heinz Grasser could hardly be more different.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Christof Birbaumer, REUTERS/Lisa Leutner)

Before the second trial: financial juggler René Benko is in custody in Innsbruck with a member of the Hells Angels rocker gang - and is holed up behind mountains of files. Ex-Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser, meanwhile, is waiting for the shackle and gets a very special kick out of going to court.

On January 23, the handcuffs clicked for Signa founder René Benko in his downtown Innsbruck office. One day later, a judge in Vienna ordered him to be remanded in custody. The financial juggler has been behind bars ever since. First in the Josefstadt prison in Vienna, and since October in the so-called "Ziegelstadel" in his old home town. This is where the 48-year-old Tyrolean was transferred before the first trial for fraudulent crida.

The first sentence - 24 months unconditional - is not legally binding; it is being contested by his lawyers. However, the second fraud trial is due to start on December 10 in Innsbruck. It concerns a secret safe containing luxury watches and cash, which was set up by relatives of his wife in connection with Benko's billion-dollar bankruptcy as a sole trader.

Two extremely prominent prisoners in Innsbruck's "Ziegelstadel" are in the clear.(Bild: Jasmin Steiner)

Benko: Ten applications for release
What is Benko's everyday life in prison like? In Vienna, the former real estate speculator still enjoyed the privilege of solitary confinement. In Innsbruck, he currently has to share a cell with a key member of the Hells Angels rocker gang. According to reports, Benko also refrains from stretching his legs and using the yard in Tyrol.

While former Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser, who is also imprisoned in the "Ziegelstadel", even plays soccer with his fellow inmates whenever possible, Benko and a lawyer from the office of his defense attorney Norbert Wess entrench themselves behind mountains of files for hours every day.

The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) is currently investigating a dozen facts. At the beginning of November, the tenth application for release before the Viennese judge, for which Benko had himself connected via video from Innsbruck, also came to nothing.

Grasser's ball is in the minister's court
According to judicial insiders, Karl-Heinz Grasser's shackling proceedings are now taking an unusually long time: the former top politician's lawyers filed an application right on time on September 1.

The family's farm in Kitzbühel has also been scrutinized by experts. However, the ball, which could well be described as a "hot potato", is currently in the court of SPÖ Justice Minister Anna Sporrer.