Request for detention to Moscow
German judiciary demands extradition of Jan Marsalek
04/19/2022, 10:11 am
Ex-Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek is said to be in Moscow. Therefore, the German judiciary sends a detention request to Russia. The goal is extradition to Germany and a lawsuit for fraud. Allegedly, politicians have known for a long time where he is, but investigators do not.
According to a media report, the German judiciary has made a request for legal assistance to the Russian government in the case of the wanted ex-Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek in order to achieve his extradition. The “Bild” newspaper reported in its Tuesday edition, citing government circles, that the Munich public prosecutor’s office had sent a so-called arrest request to the Kremlin before Easter. Marsalek is to be tried in Munich.
According to the newspaper, the German investigators are demanding that the Russian judiciary take Marsalek, who has been wanted worldwide for suspected fraud for two years, from a hiding place in Moscow provided by the Russian secret service FSB, arrest him and extradite him. The request contains the exact escape location of Marsalek from January 2021, with the corresponding coordinates.
The “Bild” newspaper reported a week ago that Marsalek had gone into hiding in Moscow. According to this, the whereabouts of the former Wirecard board member have been known to the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the Federal Chancellery since last year. According to the “Bild” newspaper, the Munich investigators are said not to have been informed, but only found out about Marsalek’s whereabouts through the revelations in the newspaper.
BND: Chancellery knew whereabouts
Two Munich public prosecutors then traveled to Berlin last Tuesday to inspect the secret Marsalek files at the BND headquarters, the paper writes. Among them are a BND report from Moscow and another document proving that the BND had informed the Chancellery about the fraudster’s escape location. These files also contain a previous offer by the Russians that the German investigators be allowed to interrogate Marsalek. “Bild” had already reported on this alleged Russian offer a week ago.
The top floor of the financial service provider Wirecard is said to have booked bogus transactions worth billions for years in order to keep the company, which was then listed in the Dax, afloat and to cheat loans. It is one of the biggest economic scandals in German history. The main hearing against former Wirecard boss Markus Braun before the Munich I district court is scheduled for autumn.