According to a media report, Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek, who went into hiding, spied for Russia for years. The Austrian-born man used the payment service provider to help Russian spies financially, as well as in operations in conflict areas such as the Middle East and Africa, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. He is currently working in Dubai on the reorganization of the Russian mercenary group Wagner in Africa.
According to the report, Western security authorities also suspect that Marsalek collected information about the German Federal Intelligence Service and the German Federal Criminal Police Office through Wirecard and passed it on to Moscow. This could have allowed Russian intelligence to determine the location and scope of German intelligence activities.
Fugitive Marsalek is already suspected by British investigators of being part of a Russian spy network. As a result, he is said to have played a central role as an intermediary between Moscow and a group of Bulgarians facing trial in London as suspected Russian spies.
Main suspect in the Wirecard scandal
Marsalek was the former head of sales at financial services provider Wirecard, has been in hiding for a long time and is believed to be in Russia. He is considered the main suspect in the Wirecard scandal. In the summer of 2020, the former DAX group collapsed because it was unable to find 1.9 billion euros of alleged income from a third-party business. Marsalek then fled abroad when the company's collapse became evident.