2024-06-20 16:09:00
The previous CFO of the bancrupt property group Signa, Manuel Pirolt, denies having a private relationship with the corporate’s founder René Benko. After the collapse, he now considers the bancrupt group to be “stabilised”. “The time has come for me to go away the corporate,” he stated in an interview with the weekly “profile”. In the meantime, the state legal professional basic continues to be investigating him.
Pirolt will stay out there to advise the insolvency administrator if crucial. He should even be out there to the general public prosecutor. This lists him as a defendant in 5 instances. An allegation of fraud surrounding a mortgage extension at Financial institution Schelhammer Capital final yr was recognized within the media. It is usually recognized that Signa made a voluntary disclosure as a result of the capital beneficial properties tax was paid late following a dividend distribution. There are additionally investigations into alleged misuse of investor funds. Moreover, there’s an ongoing case of suspicion of cash laundering with the general public prosecutor in Munich. “I’m additionally conscious of those 4 lawsuits in opposition to me. As well as, so far as I do know, there’s one other investigation, Pirolt stated. He presently doesn’t know the content material of the proceedings. “We have now submitted an utility to examine the recordsdata however haven’t but obtained a duplicate of the recordsdata.” Pirolt rejects the accusations within the investigation. “The allegations are false and I’m not accused of any unlawful conduct.”
Pirolt helped make Signa’s rise doable. Now he additionally bears a part of the accountability for the corporate’s deep decline, writes “profile” in its present version. As a board member of a restricted firm, he labored with out directions – however in fact underneath the management of the supervisory board, he stated when requested if Benko was his boss.
“Benko concerned in lots of tasks”
Formally, Benko has not had any company regulation features in Signa lately. “He had a consultancy settlement with the property firms. He was very current, it is no secret, stated Pirolt. “He labored from morning to nighttime day-following-day. He based the corporate and was concerned in lots of tasks.”
The State Prosecutor for Financial and Corruption (WKStA) is investigating the query of whether or not Benko, who was actually nothing official, was not really the CEO – that’s, the shadow CEO – and will due to this fact be held liable. Pirolt says: “He was concerned in lots of issues and labored intensively on the additional improvement of the corporate along with his community and his abilities. It’s worthwhile to ask a lawyer whether or not that is de facto administration or not.”
All vital issues – each buy or sale, each vital contract – had been submitted to the supervisory board by the board for approval. That is additionally documented. “If Benko had a proposal, we additionally checked out it. However the way in which it was rumored that he would stroll by way of the halls and purchase one thing for everybody was positively not the case.”
Pirolt rejects the accusation that traders had been lured with embellished representations. “I’m a board member of a very powerful actual property subsidiaries, I used to be not concerned within the holding firm or the buying and selling division. For my space, I can inform you with a transparent conscience that every one these figures had been created and managed on the highest stage,” he instructed “profile”.
He turned conscious that Signa was bankrupt with the particular audit from the European Central Financial institution (ECB). “When it turned public data in late 2022 and early 2023 that the European Central Financial institution was finishing up a particular audit of the true property business, notably with regard to Signa, the strain elevated massively and led to uncertainty among the many banks. says Pirolt. “However we misplaced our breath when an enormous investor ticket in South Korea fell over on the finish of August 2023 There was immediately a brand new regulation for South Korean insurance coverage firms, in keeping with which they had been not allowed to put money into actual property.” Central Europe as a result of your entire business was there would have had excessive depreciation in 2023. – It was a shock for everybody. We had been unable to shut this hole within the final quarter. On the finish of the day, it led to chapter.” Pirolt continued: “Nobody anticipated it. Nobody might have imagined that we might be affected on this method.”
“Weren’t pals”
Within the collapsed company empire, Pirolt was quantity two behind Benko. Pirolt clearly denies any private closeness to the Tyrolean: “We had a great, pleasant relationship, however we weren’t pals In the intervening time there’s “de facto no relationship.” – It has been very intense over time. After he disappeared from as an alternative of Signa Holding’s insolvency on the finish of final yr, we hardly had any contact.”
Pirolt is the primary from the closest Signa administration group to be interviewed. Months following the primary insolvency proceedings on the Signa group, Benko appeared earlier than the parliamentary inquiry committee and was largely silent on its content material, citing ongoing proceedings.
In keeping with what has been acknowledged, the 40-year-old Pirolt joined Signa in 2011 as a controller and thus the guardian of the financial system. He rapidly made his profession and joined the board of the group’s central property holding firms – Signa Prime Choice AG and Signa Growth Choice AG. However in keeping with the commerce register (WirtschaftsCompass) he not too long ago held greater than 260 energetic positions in Austria alone, largely in Signa firms and different firms within the Benko setting. In 2015, Pirolt additionally turned a board member of Benko’s Laura Personal Basis, in keeping with “profile”. Benko himself is just not one of many basis’s beneficiaries, however relatively a detailed relative. However a major a part of the household’s belongings are most likely parked there, writes the journal. Pirolt is now additionally leaving the muse.
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