Overview
- Austrian anti-corruption prosecutors opened a criminal case against Alfred Gusenbauer for suspected breach of trust and fraud, with police searching his homes.
- Investigators say he misused his power as supervisory board chair in 2022 by approving unjustified advance success-fee payments to a Signa executive without full board approval, causing about €10 million in harm.
- In separate civil proceedings, the Signa Holding insolvency administrator is suing to claw back €4.9 million paid to Gusenbauer in 2022–2023, including roughly €1.4 million in board fees and €3.5 million in consulting fees, citing a lack of demonstrable services.
- Gusenbauer denies wrongdoing, says he served as a public face for Signa and sought investors, and has submitted meeting logs and contact records in his defense, with the civil hearing set to continue in May.
- The actions are part of broader fallout from Signa’s collapse, with founder René Benko in custody and prosecutors also probing internal loans and capital moves that may have shifted losses within the group.