Rene Benko made his first public appearance since the collapse of his Signa empire on Wednesday. However, this did not take place in the Cofag investigative committee in parliament, but almost 500 kilometers west in the Innsbruck regional court, where bankruptcy proceedings once morest Benko were at issue. At least there was good news for the MPs that the Tyrolean entrepreneur wants to appear in the investigative committee at the end of May. Yesterday the stage belonged to Finance Minister Magnus Brunner and his predecessor Gernot Blümel (both VP) and, at the end, Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens).
Signa tax debts
Initially, Brunner, who sought advice from U-Committee veteran and head of the Financial Procuratorate Wolfgang Peschorn, had some relevant information to offer. According to this, the Signa companies would currently owe the state a “low double-digit million amount” in taxes. The number refers to the claims registered in the insolvency proceedings. But they are constantly checking and more and more are being added, said Brunner, referring to the opaque corporate conglomerate.
The latter was also responsible for the fact that Signa companies received a total of around 18 million euros in Cofag payments, even though the maximum limit was 14 million euros. With regard to reclaims, the processing is ongoing. Benko himself only claims to have “shaked his hand” with Brunner every now and then.
Image: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER
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Image: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER
In principle, the finance minister defended the establishment of the Covid financing agency (Cofag), because “without the economic aid, 100,000 people would have lost their jobs,” he referred to a corresponding study. In view of the accusation of over-funding, aid amounting to 160 million euros has already been demanded back.
Afterwards, predecessor Blümel, who appeared following being threatened with a penalty, was plagued by many gaps in his memory, almost as he once was in the Ibiza committee. After all, he took political responsibility for founding Cofag.
