The Signa Group’s real estate and trading empire is rapidly disintegrating as a result of its bankruptcy. Prosecutors are now examining whether there was criminal activity in the company network – there is suspicion of money laundering.
The Munich public prosecutor’s office has confirmed investigations into suspected money laundering at the insolvent Signa Group of the Austrian entrepreneur René Benko. A spokeswoman for the investigative authority said this upon request, without naming one or more of the accused.
However, she pointed out that there is no corporate criminal law in Germany – meaning that investigations cannot be carried out against companies, but only against individual people. “The facts will of course be examined comprehensively from a legal perspective, including with regard to possible other crimes,” the investigators said in a statement.
Several Public prosecutors involved in the case
The Munich investigations have not yet progressed very far. However, the announcement revealed that other public prosecutor’s offices in Germany are also involved in the case. At the moment it is apparently being clarified where the leadership should lie.
“The exact local responsibilities and thus the press sovereignty within Germany still need to be clarified, which is why we have to be cautious about providing information at the moment,” explained the spokeswoman for the Munich public prosecutor’s office.
Low interest rates made expansion possible
“Bild am Sonntag” first reported on the process at the weekend. Until a few months ago, Benko was considered a multi-billionaire; the US magazine “Forbes” estimated the 46-year-old’s assets at six billion dollars (5.5 billion euros) at the beginning of 2023. Since the end of December, however, a number of companies from Benko’s Signa Group have filed for bankruptcy.
The Signa Group had expanded significantly during the low interest rate phase of the past few years. However, with the simultaneous increase in loan interest and construction costs, the group was no longer able to service its debts. Benko himself has not spoken publicly about the decline of his empire in recent months.
Benko’s complex corporate empire includes, among others, the Elbtower project in Hamburg, the luxury department store KaDeWe in Berlin and the also insolvent department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. Benko himself has now also filed for bankruptcy in the Tyrolean state capital of Innsbruck.