Austrian investor René Benko sentenced to two and a half years in prison

Innsbruck. In a partially reopened trial, the Austrian investor René Benko was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. The Innsbruck regional court considered it proven that the 49-year-old had damaged his creditors.

Benko had already been sentenced to two years in prison in October 2025 on this suspicion. He was acquitted in one aspect regarding an advance payment of rent costs. However, the Supreme Court (OGH) overturned this acquittal. Therefore, negotiations had to be held again and the amount of the penalty had to be redetermined.

Specifically, it was about the accusation that Benko had paid 360,000 euros in advance rent costs for another residence, even though he was on the verge of bankruptcy in autumn 2023. The villa was initially uninhabitable due to a landslide. Nevertheless, Benko paid the rent and operating costs for four years in advance.

The villa belongs to a company belonging to the private foundation Laura, named after Benko's daughter. The public prosecutors considered the advance payment to be economically and objectively unreasonable. The funds for the advance payment are said to have come from the Laura private foundation and ended up there again via a money carousel.