Posted on: September 27, 2023, 05:29h.
Last updated on: September 27, 2023, 05:29h.
Wirecard’s fugitive former chief operating officer, Jan Marsalek, has been accused of being a spymaster who provided orders to five Bulgarian individuals charged with spying for Russia in the UK.
The astonishing claim was made by Crown prosecutors during a court hearing in London, where the five defendants appeared via video link from separate prisons.
The accused individuals are Orlin Roussev (45), Bizer Dzhambazov (41), Katrin Ivanova (31), Ivan Stoyanov (31), and Vanya Gaberova (29).
All five were arrested under the Official Secrets Act by counterterrorism police in February. Prosecutors allege that they engaged in surveillance activities to assist Russia in conducting hostile actions against specific targets in the UK, including potential abductions.
Gambling and Pornography
In the summer of 2020, Marsalek disappeared amidst accusations of fraud and false accounting at Wirecard, which led to Germany’s “Fraud Trial of the Century.”
Wirecard, initially a payment processor for online gambling and pornography sites in the 1990s, eventually became a prominent player in the German fintech industry, with a market capitalization of $28 billion. However, a $2 billion deficit emerged on its balance sheet.
Austrian national Marsalek is currently being tried in absentia in Munich on charges that include market manipulation and gang-related fraud.
German prosecutors assert that Marsalek, former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun, and others manipulated financial records and fabricated fictitious revenue streams to make the failing company appear profitable.
Marsalek fled Germany on June 23, 2020, shortly after Wirecard’s collapse. He claimed to be traveling to Manila to search for the missing billions, but this turned out to be a false lead.
Authorities in the Philippines later discovered that someone had forged immigration records to make it seem like Marsalek had entered the country. It is believed that he instead traveled to Minsk, Belarus, and from there, made his way to Moscow, where he is reportedly hiding under the supervision of Russia’s military intelligence, the GRU.
Double Life
Western intelligence agencies uncovered Marsalek’s double life as one of the world’s most wanted individuals. He frequently traveled to Russia, using multiple passports, including a diplomatic one, in the months leading up to Wirecard’s collapse.
British prosecutors allege that Orlin Roussev, suspected to be the leader of the Bulgarian spy cell in the UK, directly received instructions from Marsalek.
The five defendants, which include an amateur MMA fighter called “The Destroyer” and an award-winning beautician, have been ordered to appear at the Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court, on October 13.
Marsalek has not yet been formally charged in this case.