Peschorn says Signa investigation lacks clear direction

The investigation into the Signa business group and René Benko lacks a clear direction, Austria’s state legal office chief Wolfgang Peschorn said in an interview reported by ORF and the newspaper Krone.

Peschorn, president of the Finanzprokuratur, which represents and advises the Austrian federal government on legal matters, said investigators appeared to be pursuing two different explanations: either Benko controlled everything and foundations served as “money silos”, or the transactions were conducted on normal commercial terms. He also questioned why one of Benko’s confidants had been managing director at 330 of more than 1,000 companies.

Peschorn said the indictments so far, which he called “Mickey Mouse indictments”, did not reflect the scale of the asset transfers. He compared the Signa investigation with the Eurofighter case, saying the Innsbruck Higher Regional Court had ended those investigations in 2020 after finding that the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office had failed to investigate the allegations adequately for two years.

He also criticised the handling of Benko’s move from pre-trial detention to electronically monitored house arrest. Benko had been in custody since January 2025 and left prison in Innsbruck on Thursday. The prosecutor’s office has appealed the decision, which will now be reviewed by a panel of judges at the Innsbruck Higher Regional Court.