Signa tractor’s disputed registration raises fresh questions

A tractor sold by Signa Motion was registered in the name of a former professional hunter for René Benko shortly before the company’s insolvency, although the hunter says he knew nothing about it. The case came to light when a Tirol farmer who bought the vehicle in 2024 tried to register it, ORF reported.

The Steyr Kompakt 4095 was valued at about 70,000 euros. The farmer says he paid the full price to Signa Motion GmbH, a subsidiary of the Signa group. But the central vehicle registration database listed the hunter as its last registered owner.

A letter from Signa Motion’s current liquidator to the registration office said the registration in the hunter’s name had not been authorised by the company. The liquidator, who previously managed the company, provided a written explanation so the buyer could register the tractor. The circumstances behind the disputed registration remain unclear.

The tractor was registered to the hunter on December 27, 2023, and deregistered again a few weeks later. The registration came during the collapse of the Signa group: Signa Holding had filed for insolvency weeks earlier, while Signa Motion did so in December.

The hunter confirmed to ORF that he had worked for Benko, but said he had met Signa Motion’s managing director only briefly. He said he knew nothing about the tractor being registered in his name and had never used it. He believed it may have been in the group’s hunting grounds in the Karwendel, which covered about 3,200 hectares and were leased by Signa.

The registration office told ORF that someone had presented a power of attorney to register the tractor, reportedly an insurance representative. The hunter said he had never signed such a document and did not know about it. He said it was possible someone had registered the vehicle in his name without his knowledge. He denied trying to secure assets for himself because he feared he would not be paid for his work.

The case follows other vehicle transfers at Signa Motion. The company managed vehicles for the Signa group, some of them highly valuable and reportedly used by Benko. The Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) suspects that 16 vehicles were transferred in the second half of 2023 to a company linked to the Laura private foundation. They reportedly included a Ferrari F40 and a Lamborghini. The WKStA suspects assets may have been unlawfully removed from the insolvency estate of Signa companies. Asked whether the tractor case is also being investigated, the office said the Signa investigation was ongoing and the tractor was now “no longer unknown” to it.

The former Signa Motion managing director, now the company’s liquidator, declined an interview with ORF and did not provide an official statement. The tractor is now listed for sale again.