Signa cases: René Benko leaves prison for electronically monitored house arrest
Signa founder René Benko left Innsbruck prison on 15 October for electronically monitored house arrest. This is a form of pre-trial detention, not unrestricted release. Austria’s anti-corruption prosecutor WKStA challenged the decision, ORF reports.
Benko had been in pre-trial detention since January 2025. The Innsbruck court authorised an electronic tag on 14 October. ORF reported the following day that he had moved to a rented flat near his family. He faces checks and must not contact specified people around Signa and the Ingbe foundation, directly or indirectly.
The defence argued that he could better prepare for complex proceedings outside prison, also citing his conduct and the lengthy detention. WKStA opposed house arrest and referred its challenge to Innsbruck’s Higher Regional Court.
On 22 September Benko received thirty months’ imprisonment for fraudulent impairment of creditors’ interests. ORF reported on 24 September that the judgment was final. Credit for remand enabled conditional release from that sentence, but pre-trial detention in other cases continued.
The Signa investigations cover different facts and people. Another allegation concerns a purportedly misleading guarantee and approximately €5 million in losses to Hans Peter Haselsteiner’s family foundation. Benko disputes the allegations.
