Fugitive former Wirecard board member: Jan Marsalek is alleged to have been concerned in a Russian espionage operation

British investigators throw Jan Marsalek, fugitive former Wirecard board memberearlier than, Funded and directed an agent ring in Nice Britain from Russia to have. This emerges from an announcement from the British public prosecutor’s workplace on Tuesday. “Spiegel” had beforehand reported on the allegations.

Accordingly, Marsalek ought to play a central function Mediator between Moscow and a bunch of Bulgarians who’ve to face trial in London as suspected Russian spies. An preliminary listening to was resulting from happen on Tuesday at Westminster Crown Courtroom in London.

Marsalek is taken into account the primary suspect within the Wirecard scandal

Marsalek was beforehand the pinnacle of gross sales on the monetary providers supplier Wirecard, has been in hiding for a very long time and is believed to be in Russia. He’s thought-about the primary suspect within the Wirecard scandal.

Marsalek was answerable for enterprise with so-called third-party accomplice corporations – exterior fee service suppliers that processed or are stated to have processed bank card funds on Wirecard’s behalf, primarily in Asia.

Marsalek is alleged to have lived in Russia for years

In the summertime of 2020, the previous DAX group collapsed as a result of 1.9 billion euros of alleged proceeds from this third-party enterprise couldn’t be discovered. Marsalek then fled overseas when the collapse of the corporate grew to become obvious.

Since then, increasingly particulars about his connections to Russia have change into identified. The investigative journal Bellingcat reported that that the Austrian has traveled to the nation greater than 60 occasions since 2010 and is alleged to have used round ten completely different passes for this.

There are, amongst different issues, pictures by which Marsalek poses close to Moscow with certificates from an organization that gives enjoyable flights in Russian fighter jets. In line with confidants, the Austrian boasted a couple of journey to Palmyra, Syria, in 2017 – at the moment he might solely get there with Russian secret service brokers.

Final 12 months, varied media reported that Marsalek was now ought to have a Russian passport and below the title “German Bazhenov” proceed to steer a classy way of life in Moscow. There are additionally pictures circulating which might be supposed to point out Marsalek in entrance of a complicated fish restaurant. (Tsp, dpa)