The hiding place of the white-collar criminal had long been known to the German authorities. Still nothing happened. Now the public prosecutor’s office is demanding Marsalek’s extradition.
Mug shot of Germany’s most wanted white-collar criminal.
Former Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek has been at the top of the international wanted lists for around 22 months. Meter-high mug shots of him – either with a beard or bald head – hung at German street crossings. The security authorities also called on TV viewers to provide information about the whereabouts of the suspected billionaire fraudster who had fled. A wrong track first led to Asia to the Philippines. The investigators seemed helpless to chase after a phantom, at least that was the public impression. But for more than a year, the clues to Marsalek’s whereabouts have been concrete.
The “Bild” newspaper even published a photo of the chic residential complex with admission control in a Moscow suburb on Tuesday, where Marsalek is said to have stayed in early 2021. The location was also known to the Federal Chancellery, which was still run by Angela Merkel at the time, and the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), the newspaper reports. As a consequence, the Munich public prosecutor’s office is said to have made a request for legal assistance to the Russian government in order to obtain Marsalek’s extradition. The address of the Moscow suburb is said to have been given as the whereabouts. The public prosecutor himself does not want to comment on this. After a request from the NZZ, a spokeswoman referred to diplomatic practices.
The interior expert of the Greens, Konstantin von Notz, is clearer. «I expect the fastest possible delivery. All responsible bodies and security authorities have a duty to unconditionally disclose their knowledge of the background, »says von Notz, who is chairman of the parliamentary control committee in the Bundestag. “We must do everything in our power to completely clarify the exact background of this blatant fraud case, one of the largest in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany.” This also includes holding Marsalek and his accomplices in Germany legally accountable.
The parliamentary state secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Florian Toncar, said that the Wirecard investigative committee had been informed of Marsalek’s whereabouts by the BND president in a secret meeting. Although the findings were modest, they most likely pointed to Russia. Toncar, who was also a member of the committee of inquiry, calls the request for mutual legal assistance logical. Marsalek flew on June 19, 2020 from the small Austrian airport of Bad Vöslau to the Belarusian capital of Minsk. There he was lost.
The BND apparently declined an offer to speak to Marsalek
Marsalek’s penchant for secret services has long been known. The former top manager is said to have worked as an undercover agent for the Austrian secret service. In Moscow he is now under the care of the Russian domestic secret service FSB, as “Bild” writes. And he is said to have received a promise from there not to be extradited. In this respect, it seems interesting whether the German request for legal assistance will be answered at all by the Russian side.
In Moscow, Marsalek should apparently be able to move freely and pursue new business. He is said to be dealing in the Sputnik vaccine. Months ago, according to “Spiegel” information, an informant with connections to the FSB offered the BND to arrange a meeting with Marsalek. After consultation with the Berlin headquarters, the BND rejected the offer. It seemed suspicious that the whistleblower had contacted the BND and not the law enforcement authorities. The agents feared stepping into a trap. The Bundestag is now to check whether the competent investigative committee and the control committee were properly informed.
The Munich investigators, on the other hand, were not informed. According to the “Bild” newspaper, two public prosecutors only traveled to Berlin before Easter to view the secret Marsalek files at the BND headquarters. It is said to have contained the report on the failed meeting in Moscow and documents detailing Marsalek’s exact whereabouts. Marsalek, born in Vienna in 1980, is the main suspect in the accounting fraud scandal at the former Wirecard AG, which caused damage of at least 1.9 billion euros.