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The public prosecutor’s office in London on Tuesday accused former Wirecard CEO Jan Marsalek of involvement in a spying network for Russia.
German news outlet Der Spiegel had first reported the development, citing sources in the prosecution service, shortly before Tuesday’s announcement.
Marsalek is named as part of a case against five Bulgarian nationals in the UK that was made public last week. The Austrian businessman is said to have been a contact person for the oldest of the five people arrested, who is accused of organizing and managing the cell’s operations.
The cell is accused of surveilling and reporting on people and places of interest to Russia within the UK.
However, Marsalek is not charged as part of the case. The Bulgarian suspects appeared in court on Tuesday.
Thought to have fled to Russia after Wirecard’s collapse
Marsalek’s ties to Russia were well known and German authorities, currently trying him in absentia in connection with Wirecard’s collapse in 2020, believed he fled to Minsk and probably later Russia as prosecutors closed in on him that summer.
Wirecard rapidly went insolvent in mid-2020 as a series of corrupt business practices and cases of fraudulent reporting were unearthed, showing the lender to have reported having almost €2 billion in assets that were not in fact in its possession and were “missing.”
Marsalek’s contacts to Russia have made him a person of interest for at least three different intelligence agencies since 2020.
He is currently being tried in absentia in Munich.
More to follow…
msh/fb (dpa, AP)
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