Benko wanted to swap Picasso and Basquiat for villas on Lake Garda

In August 2023, Signa Holding transferred the shares in the Luxembourg company Villa Eden Gardone Beteiligung Sarl, or VEG for short, to the Liechtenstein Ingbe Foundation, which is attributed to the Benko family around his mother Ingeborg. VEG owns six villas on Lake Garda. The purchase price of 46.3 million euros was offset against shares in Signa Prime Selection AG (SPS). Apparently Signa Holding needed the shares as collateral. However, the SPS is said to have been materially insolvent since March 31, 2022, and only filed for bankruptcy in December 2023.

“Several emails from October 2023 were found in the seized electronic documents, which show that the Ingbe Foundation wanted to transfer 63 percent of these shares to the Laura Private Foundation (LPS for short) just three months after purchasing the Villa Eden Gardone Sarl,” the report says. “In return, the LPS was to transfer two works of art (a Picasso and a Basquiat), which were obviously hanging in the villa in Igls, to the Ingbe Foundation.” The works of art had a total value of 29.41 million euros.

Pictures auctioned

The investigation shows that René Benko personally bought both works of art at Christie’s: Basquiat’s “Self Portrait” in March 2021 for the equivalent of 10.53 million euros and Picasso’s “L’Étreinte” at the end of June 2021 for the equivalent of 17.18 million euros. The invoice for the Basquiat was originally written to “René Benko c/o Signa Holding” and was subsequently transferred to the Laura Private Foundation. The Picasso was to be billed to “Laura AAA Kunst GmbH & Co KG”, which was only being founded at the time of the auction.

Emails show that Benko himself gave the instructions: “The purchase was made for the Laura Private Foundation,” he wrote on April 13, 2021. He later added: “The Basquiat will then come to the house in Igls after construction is completed.” The insurance policy from 2023 lists the Laura Private Foundation as the policyholder, but “Nathalie and René Benko” as additional insured persons. Insured location: Villa N Igls. The two works of art were insured for 28 million euros.

The exchange was meticulously prepared in October/November 2023. But on November 7, 2023, the day the contract was signed, the board of directors of the Ingbe Foundation submitted a suspected money laundering report to the Liechtenstein authority SFIU. Reason: media reports about the economic difficulties of the Signa Group. On November 13, 2023, Benko wrote to the foundation board: “Have any of you mentioned to third parties, the market, or gallery owners that Picasso and Basquiat should be sold? – or asked for indications of value?” They denied that.

Accusation denied

Four days later, a Signa employee informed the insurance company that the board of directors of the Laura Private Foundation had decided not to sell the pictures. In January 2024, the Basquiat was finally sold to the Ingbe Foundation for 11.08 million euros. According to the board’s decision, due to the Laura Private Foundation’s “imminent liquidity needs”. The latter went bankrupt in March 2026. “Mr Benko denies having participated in a criminally relevant matter,” says his defense attorney Norbert Wess to the KURIER. “This transaction that is being criminalized here was never carried out.”

Meanwhile, Benko has to appear in court again on September 22nd. At the beginning of July, the Supreme Court overturned a partial acquittal in the fraudulent Krida case and referred it back to the Innsbruck Regional Court for a new trial.