Austrian businessman Jan Marsalek, the former chief operating officer of the German payment company Wirecard, turned out to be a Russian agent working for the Russian intelligence services, using his work at Wirecard to illegally transfer funds.
An article in The Wall Street Journal revealed that Marsalek fled to Moscow after discovering that approximately $2 billion had disappeared from the company's balance sheet in June 2020. After departing from Austria, the plane carrying Marsalek landed in Belarus, where he was taken to Moscow. In Russia, he was issued a passport under a fictitious name.
According to the WSJ, Marsalek used his position at Wirecard to help Russian intelligence agencies transfer money to finance various operations around the world.
This case reveals a high level of corruption and espionage that could have important consequences for the relationship between Germany and Russia, as well as for the security of financial systems and companies.
