Days before the collapse of Wirecard, the allegedly central figure in the fraud system from Germany is leaving. With the help of the local secret services, Jan Marsalek takes a detour to Russia. The former manager's connections to foreign spies are now also a concern of the Bundestag.
According to a report, the central figure in the Wirecard scandal, ex-board member Jan Marsalek, is in Russia. As the "Handelsblatt" writes, citing acquaintances of the manager wanted in Germany by arrest warrant, the Austrian is on a property west of Moscow. There he is now under the supervision of the Russian foreign intelligence service SWR.
The "Handelsblatt" also traces Marsalek's escape route. As a result, he had flown in a private jet to the Estonian capital Tallinn four days before Wirecard had to admit that the missing nearly two billion euros in Philippine trustee accounts probably did not exist. From there he traveled on to Minsk. Russian secret services, with which Marsalek was apparently in close contact, had brought him from Belarus to the vicinity of Moscow, since it was "safer" there for the fugitive. Marsalek had received an assurance that he would not be extradited. In Russia he was therefore initially under the supervision of the notorious GRU military intelligence service. Later it was handed over to the SWR.
Marsalek is considered to be the head behind the alleged, billion-dollar balance sheet falsifications at Wirecard. He is said to have built up the alleged Asian business of the now insolvent payment service provider. His former boss, long-time Wirecard CEO Markus Braun, and other top managers are now in custody on suspicion of fraud and market manipulation. It has long been suspected that Marsalek left for Russia after the Wirecard collapse. Traces that initially led to the Philippines and China had proven to be presumably deliberately set wrong tracks.
Committee summons intelligence officers
The "Handelsblatt" report also focuses on Marsalek's apparently close ties to international secret services. In a Telegram chat after his escape, he had bragged about relationships with the Mossad, the CIA and other intelligence agencies. He has "several passports, like any good secret agent," he writes. Among other things, he is said to have even talked about a trip to Syria with the help of the GRU and about insider knowledge about the poison attack on the former Russian double agent Sergej Skripal in Great Britain.
The "New York Times" reported a double life and "unusual" personal investments outside the European financial sector. During research and discussions with business partners, the newspaper came across connections to Libya, among other things: In addition to economic interests in the civil war country, Marsalek is said to have been particularly interested in the establishment of a 15,000-strong border militia.
The alleged connections and possible activities of Marsalek for foreign secret services are said to be – in addition to the failure of the supervisory authorities – also a topic at the meeting of the finance committee of the Bundestag on the Wirecard case. So far, the federal government has stated in response to inquiries that the Federal Intelligence Service and the intelligence agency responsible for counter-espionage have no knowledge of Wirecard and Marsalek. The committee members are not satisfied with that. You have invited the State Secretary in the Chancellery and the intelligence services representative to your meeting today.
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