December 15, 2025, 11:49December 15, 2025, 11:49
According to unconfirmed media reports, the public prosecutor’s office in Trento in Italy wants to drop the accusation of forming a criminal organization against Signa founder René Benko. A corresponding application was received by an investigating judge in Trento, reported northern Italian media.
The investigators suspected Benko of being the “leader of a mafia-like organization”.Image: keystone
The public prosecutor’s office therefore came to the conclusion that there had been close contacts between some people, but that they had never acted in a criminal association.
Specifically, investigators suspected Benko of being “the leader of a mafia-like criminal organization” that was founded with the aim of obtaining concessions and permits in order to make unjustified profits. The entrepreneur and investor acted at the head of the criminal organization with the help of the Bolzano tax advisor Heinz Peter Hager and an entrepreneur from the city of Rovereto, the Italian judicial authorities said about a year ago.
The public prosecutor’s office no longer believes that there was a criminal organization. In total, they want to file 35 reservations in the case, writes the newspaper “Dolomiten”. Allegations of 21 individual crimes are still ongoing, it said. However, Benko was not affected by this and he was not charged with any individual crimes. (sda/awp/apa)