A fugitive Wirecard executive used compromised intelligence agents in Austria to spy on citizens in Europe and plot assassinations using Russian hitmen, according to shocking new claims based on evidence obtained by British intelligence.
Jan Marsalek, former chief operating officer of defunct German payments processor Wirecard, is alleged to have helped coordinate a group of spies planning kidnappings on British soil, prosecutors told Southwark Crown Court in London in September last year.
But new allegations contained in an Austrian police report on the arrest of a former Austrian police officer claim that Marsalek was not only compromised by Russia, but may have been one of the Kremlin’s top spies in Europe.
The 86-page warrant claims that police officer Egisto Ott, 44, and top Austrian security official Martin Weiss enabled covert work for Russian intelligence operating in Europe over a period of several years.
The allegations add to speculation that Wirecard, which collapsed after some €1.9 billion “disappeared,” could have been used as a “shadow financial network to pay for and facilitate Russian covert operations,” according to the Financial timeswhich has thoroughly documented allegations of negligence in a series of investigations.
Jan Marsalek, former COO of defunct German payment processor Wirecard
The former businessman is said to have acted as a “tasker” for five spies in the United Kingdom. Among them are 29-year-old Vanya Gaberova (left) and 31-year-old Ivan Stoyanov (right). All five deny the charges.
Marsalek now it is believed that he is hiding in Russia under the protection of the GRU – the feared military intelligence agency tasked with carrying out sabotage and assassinations on foreign soil – having fled Europe with the help of its network.
Amid growing accusations against the former COO, a report published by several European media last month suggested that Russia may have compromised him as early as 2014.
They reclaimed Marsalek became compromised after a meeting on a yacht about four years after his appointment as chief operating officer.
An investigation concluded that Marsalek had been courted by the Kremlin after entering into a relationship with a Russian erotic actress linked to the elusive security services.
This extended to parties, trips and rides in MiG fighter jets, the investigation stated.
The new arrest warrant for Ott, based largely on evidence provided to Austria by MI5, according to the FOOTclaims that Ott used his security clearance as an Austrian police and intelligence official to solicit confidential information on people of interest to the Kremlin.
This extended to the monitoring of Russian dissidents and Russia’s own agents, the order states.
Marsalek is also alleged to have used information provided by Ott to prepare a raid on the home of a Vienna-based investigative journalist, who exposed an assassination attempt by Russia, stealing a computer and storage devices.
Christo Grozev left Vienna last year after intelligence agencies told him Russia could be planning an attempt on his life.
While he admits to having met Marsalek, Ott has already pleaded not guilty.
Marsalek has also been accused of playing a key role in a two-and-a-half-year Russian espionage campaign in Britain.
The former businessman is said to have acted as a “tasker” for fFive Bulgarians (three men and two women) who allegedly carried out surveillance activities on behalf of the Russian state.
Of course, Marsalek’s whereabouts are unknown, and Interpol issued a red notice for his arrest.
The alleged spy previously worked for Wirecard, a payment processor and financial services provider that, as It was once the jewel of Germany’s business community, with a valuation of €24bn (£20.7bn) on the DAX.
FAfter years of dogged investigative reporting, the company reported that £1.7 billion was missing from its accounts in 2020, after disappearing from two banks in the Philippines, a region Marsalek helped oversee.
A series of photographs of Marsalek show him sporting multiple different identities. In one he is wearing glasses (left), while in others he has his hair very short.
Marsalek joined Wirecard in 2000 and became COO ten years later in February 2010.
He and the rest of the company’s executive team were fired in 2020 following an investigation.
Marsalek initially said he was going to the Philippines to prove his innocence before disappearing completely.
In 2021, German intelligence concluded that he had moved to Moscow.
The ruling coalition in Germany also reclaimed by this time Marsalek had “established contacts with the Russian intelligence services” through contacts in Austria.
They said they believed the contacts had “benefitted him during his escape and immersion.”