Wirecard manager an informant ?: Marsalek was probably an Austrian informant

One of the key figures in the Wirecard balance sheet fraud scandal, Jan Marsalek, is falling into the twilight even more than before: According to the Ministry of Justice, the manager who has gone into hiding may have been an Austrian agent. Is this the starting point for a diplomatic crisis with Vienna?

The former Wirecard manager Jan Marsalek was probably an undercover agent for the Austrian intelligence service. The Federal Public Prosecutor General "has evidence that the Austrian citizen Jan Marsalek was listed as a confidant by an employee of the Austrian Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter Terrorism (BVT)," said the Federal Ministry of Justice's response to a request from the Bundestag Member Fabio De Masi Left party, about which the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reports.

In the answer, however, the ministry added: "So far there have been no sufficient factual indications that Jan Marsalek's contacts with the BVT constitute an offense against the Federal Republic of Germany as a secret service agent or another criminal offense falling within the prosecution responsibility of the Federal Public Prosecutor could. "

According to the "Süddeutscher Zeitung", the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, to which the BVT is subordinate, did not want to comment. Placing an undercover agent in a DAX company would be an affront and could strain German-Austrian relations. The Left MP De Masi demanded in the SZ: "The Chancellor should pick up the phone as quickly as possible and ask Sebastian Kurz what the Austrians are up to here."

The former manager of the now insolvent payment service provider Wirecard, Marsalek, has been in hiding since June. The investigators accuse Marsalek, the former CEO Markus Braun and other suspects of organized gang fraud. You are said to have tricked banks and investors with falsified balance sheet figures over three billion euros.

. (tagsToTranslate) Economy (t) Secret Services (t) Wirecard (t) Crime (t) Austria