Financial criminal and Wagner Group chief's consultant: Jan Marsalek spent 10 years being Russian spy

Jan Marsalek, the former Chief Operating Officer of the bankrupt German financial service Wirecard, who has been wanted for withdrawing US$2 billion from the company, has been accused of spying in favour of Russia.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Quote: "Marsalek cultivated intelligence operatives throughout his time at Wirecard, according to investigators and a German parliamentary inquiry. Business associates included intelligence officers and ex-spies from the US, Europe and the Middle East, according to the inquiry, former business associates and officials familiar with European investigations into his activities."

Details: Some US$2 billion was debited from Wirecard's accounts in 2020, following which Jan Marsalek left for Belarus' Minsk, from which he was taken to Moscow and given a new passport with a fake name.

Intelligence officials say Wirecard services were used to finance Russian covert operations, pay informants or military contractors, and finance secret projects such as weapons purchases. The report notes that representatives of German intelligence agencies also "used Wirecard credit cards and bank accounts for their agents abroad as well as for paying informants at home and abroad".

What adds to the drama is the fact that Wirecard enjoyed tremendous support from the German government, as it was a technologically innovative project that gave Germany hope of having its own Silicon Valley. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for example, promoted Wirecard's entry into their market in conversations with her Chinese counterparts.

Marsalek has reportedly assisted Wagner Private Military Company and its chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in their activities and is currently engaged in reconfiguring Prigozhin's business in Africa.

Moreover, Marsalek managed a network of spies in the UK and was involved in the purchase of weapons for Moscow. He is running all this from his office in Dubai; the UAE government failed to comment on Marsalek's activities.

Background: Investigative projects The Insider and Bellingcat, the German news magazine Der Spiegel, and McClatchy publishing company released a joint story about Austrian Jan Marsalek, a former Wirecard executive wanted worldwide for a US$2 billion fraud.

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