Austria opens fraud probe into Signa's Benko over bank loan

VIENNA (Reuters) -Austria's anti-corruption prosecutor has opened an investigation into Rene Benko, head of the Signa property group, on suspicion of fraud, his lawyer confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday.

Benko is under investigation for getting an Austrian bank to renew a 25 million euro ($26.6 million) line of credit to Signa last year by misleading it about the company's financial situation, Austria's ORF radio reported.

Benko's lawyer, Norbert Wess, said his client had been informed about the investigation "some time ago" and said the allegations were "unfounded".

"We are cooperating fully with the (prosecutors) in this regard and will inform them of our point of view as soon as possible," he said.

The Public Prosecutor's Office for Combating Economic Crime and Corruption (WKStA) confirmed it was conducting an investigation into Benko, one other individual, as well as a Signa company.

The lawyer on behalf of the bank, which was not named in the report, told ORF that Benko had conducted the financing talks on behalf of Signa himself.

($1 = 0.9408 euros)

(Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich, writing by Andrey Sychev and Friederike Heine, editing by Rachel More and David Evans)