AN AUSTRIAN FINANCIER, WHO disappeared and is wanted by Western spy agencies in connection with a massive financial scandal in Germany, may have worked for several spy agencies simultaneously, according to reports. Jan Marsalek, dubbed by some as “the world’s most wanted man”, is connected with the sudden collapse of Wirecard AG in Germany last month.
Wirecard (est. 1999) was a German provider of financial services, such as mobile phone payment processing and other electronic payment transaction systems. The company also issued physical and virtual credit and pre-paid cards. But on June 25 of this year the company declared insolvency, after an audit revealed that nearly €2 billion ($2.3 billion) in cash deposits were missing from its accounts. Soon afterwards the company’s shares lost over 70 percent of their value and its management team, including its chief executive officer, Markus Braun, stepped down. Braun was eventually arrested. But Marsalek, who had worked as Wirecard’s chief operating officer since 2010, was nowhere to be found.
Marsalek, 40, was also in charge of Winecard’s operations in Asia and specifically the Philippines, where the fictitious €2 billion had reportedly been deposited. On June 18, after getting fired from his job, Marsalek told colleagues that he was leaving immediately for Manilla, in order to track down the missing funds and clear his name. However, he never arrived there, as he seemed to disappear into thin air on the way. An investigative report by The Financial Times revealed that Marsalek never made use of his airline ticket to the Philippine capital, and that the immigration records that showed him entering the country and then flying from there to China had been forged. This was later confirmed by the Philippines government.
Last Thursday, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that, according to some German lawmakers, Marsalek may have operated as an informant for the Austrian Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT). The paper cited a number of German lawmakers, who said they were told during a briefing of the German Parliament’s Committee on Intelligence Oversight that Marsalek probably worked “for several intelligence agencies at the same time” prior to his disappearance. The lawmakers did not provide details of these allegations. Meanwhile, Marsalek’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Joseph Fitsanakis
https://intelnews.org/2020/11/02/01-2895/
Wirecard (est. 1999) was a German provider of financial services, such as mobile phone payment processing and other electronic payment transaction systems. The company also issued physical and virtual credit and pre-paid cards. But on June 25 of this year the company declared insolvency, after an audit revealed that nearly €2 billion ($2.3 billion) in cash deposits were missing from its accounts. Soon afterwards the company’s shares lost over 70 percent of their value and its management team, including its chief executive officer, Markus Braun, stepped down. Braun was eventually arrested. But Marsalek, who had worked as Wirecard’s chief operating officer since 2010, was nowhere to be found.
Marsalek, 40, was also in charge of Winecard’s operations in Asia and specifically the Philippines, where the fictitious €2 billion had reportedly been deposited. On June 18, after getting fired from his job, Marsalek told colleagues that he was leaving immediately for Manilla, in order to track down the missing funds and clear his name. However, he never arrived there, as he seemed to disappear into thin air on the way. An investigative report by The Financial Times revealed that Marsalek never made use of his airline ticket to the Philippine capital, and that the immigration records that showed him entering the country and then flying from there to China had been forged. This was later confirmed by the Philippines government.
Last Thursday, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that, according to some German lawmakers, Marsalek may have operated as an informant for the Austrian Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT). The paper cited a number of German lawmakers, who said they were told during a briefing of the German Parliament’s Committee on Intelligence Oversight that Marsalek probably worked “for several intelligence agencies at the same time” prior to his disappearance. The lawmakers did not provide details of these allegations. Meanwhile, Marsalek’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Joseph Fitsanakis
https://intelnews.org/2020/11/02/01-2895/
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