A small airstrip on the outskirts of Vienna, next to a crematorium and a community pond, where silence often reigns undisturbed. Yet on June 19, 2020, from this unassuming location, one of the biggest espionage scandals in the Second Republic descended upon Austria.
Back then, as the small plane took off from Bad Vöslau, it seemed like just another absurd episode in the Wirecard scandal. The German IT hopeful was collapsing, and among the passengers was Jan Marsalek, the Chief Operating Officer of Wirecard. He is alleged, according to investigations, to have invented over two billion euros to manipulate the balance sheets of the payment service provider. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Months of research by “Spiegel“, “STANDARD“, ZDF, and the Russian investigative platform “The Insider” have now revealed that Marsalek had been closely linked to Russian intelligence services for years. On his orders, critics of the Russian regime were spied on, and possibly, through Wirecard‘s network of financial service providers, illicit funds were transferred.
But the revelations go even further: Even after his escape, Marsalek is said to continue to be active for Russian services. He received new travel documents from a woman who apparently has connections to the domestic intelligence service FSB. This woman and a Russian Orthodox priest, whose identity was assumed by Marsalek, were even spotted at a wellness hotel on the Russian-occupied Crimea.
But how did Marsalek fall into the arms of the Russian intelligence service? The key figure could be a young Russian woman named Natalia Zlobina, with whom Marsalek began an affair. Together, they traveled to Chechnya and even met relatives of dictator Ramzan Kadyrov. It is speculated that Marsalek and Zlobina wanted to smuggle a fortune of around 100 million dollars from Hong Kong to the West, and Marsalek’s network of payment service providers seemed ideal for this.
Also, “Stas” Petlinsky, a former general who allegedly worked for the Russian military intelligence GRU, played a crucial role. He is said to have simply handed Marsalek over to the GRU, and since then, Marsalek is said to have changed drastically.
Marsalek’s double life took him not only through world politics but also through adrenaline kicks like flying fighter jets and handling weapons in Syria. He was in contact with senior members of the notorious Wagner mercenary group, which operated, among other places, in Syria.
But Austria is not untouched by Marsalek’s machinations. He apparently had connections to the Austrian intelligence service and even to two ministries. Information from the intelligence service is said to have been passed on to the FPÖ, and Marsalek is said to have had access to secret reports through the Foreign Ministry.
Despite investigations and revelations, many questions remain unanswered, and Austrian security authorities fear that Marsalek’s network is still active. With an impending trial against an alleged espionage ring in London, it becomes clear that the effects of Marsalek’s double life are far from over—and he himself is likely to be absent.
