During an apartment search in London, investigators found explosive information about fugitive ex-Wirecard manager Jan Marsalek. The traces probably also lead to Berlin.
The fugitive ex-Wirecard manager Jan Marsalek allegedly has contacts in Germany who are said to have helped him obtain information for the Russian intelligence service. According to new investigations by the British secret service MI5, the traces also lead to Berlin. This is reported by the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ).
As early as February 2023, MI5 agents found fake press cards and passports as well as surveillance technology when searching the apartments of five Bulgarians. The client is said to have been ex-Wirecard manager Jan Marsalek, writes the “SZ”.
Marsalek is said to have commissioned the Bulgarians to intercept and track targets in Europe, including journalists, between August 2020 and February 2023. Attacks and kidnappings are also said to have been planned. The orders began just a few months after Marsalek fled to Russia. Here you can read more about it.
First arrest in Austria
Furthermore, MI5 was able to decrypt a Telegram chat between one of the Bulgarians and Marsalek. Explosive information came to light that also affected Germany, as the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reports.
According to research by “SZ”, WDR and the Austrian news magazine “Profil”, the helpers are said to have brought cash from Berlin to Vienna. The perpetrators are then said to have transported several cell phones and a laptop containing top secret information to Russia, which ultimately ended up in Lubyanka, the headquarters of the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB.
The clues that MI5 found have already led to the arrest of a former secret service agent in Austria. He had been under investigation for years because he was said to have revealed secret information to Russia – apparently instigated by Marsalek.
Traces lead to Berlin
The chats between Jan Marsalek and Orlin Roussev, one of the Bulgarians now accused in Great Britain, show that a so-called Sina laptop was transported to Russia. This is a laptop that is equipped with a special encryption program that is even approved by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in Germany for the storage and transmission of data with the highest classification level of “Top Secret”.
The money for this laptop came from dubious sources in Berlin. “The money launderers have confirmed it: They will collect the cash today and it will be available in Berlin tomorrow,” Marsalek is said to have written, according to the chats available to MI5. “20,000 euros were sent to Berlin,” Marsalek continued.
Encrypted laptop could come from Germany
According to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, investigators in Vienna believe that secret data was stored on the Sina laptop that “contained classified official data from an EU state that is of interest to the Russian intelligence service.” According to the newspaper, the authorities initially did not provide any information about what exactly was on the laptop or which country it came from. However, it can be assumed that the search for a missing laptop will now begin in Germany. Since Marsalek's secret service involvement became known, the authorities have become increasingly interested in his machinations.
The Munich I public prosecutor's office is investigating Jan Marsalek on suspicion of commercial gang fraud, the particularly serious case of breach of trust and other property and economic crimes. In June 2020, Marsalek fled to Moscow via the Belarusian capital Minsk. Since then, the ex-manager has repeatedly been accused of spying for Russia. Here you can read more about it.
