Austria plans to revoke citizenship of Jan Marsalek, former head of scandalous Wirecard: he is allegedly working for Russia

Ex-Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek, according to media reports, is in Russia and is likely working for that country's intelligence agency. The Austrian Ministry of Interior has become interested in his citizenship status. This was reported by UNN with reference to the Austrian Press Agency (APA).

Details

The Austrian Ministry of Interior announced that Austria is considering revoking the citizenship of Jan Marsalek, the former head of Wirecard. The reason for this was media reports in recent weeks about Marsalek's residence and activities in Russia.

Reference

45-year-old Marsalek was previously named the main suspect in the biggest fraud scandal since World War II. He headed Wirecard - a financial company engaged in payment processing. The police never caught him - Marsalek fled Austria after Wirecard's bankruptcy in 2020, leaving a trail of $4 billion in debt to creditors. Marsalek was later spotted in Belarus.

Currently, the issue of the ex-head of Wirecard is being dealt with as part of a comprehensive investigation in close cooperation with the Directorate for State Security and Intelligence (DSN).

There are rumors that Marsalek lives in Russia, spying for the Kremlin, having joined Russian forces in their aggression against Ukraine.

Recall

A group of Bulgarians was observing a US military base in Germany where Ukrainian troops were training. They acted under the direction of Rusev, who himself received instructions from Marsalek - the former chief operating officer of the bankrupt payment company Wirecard. The latter used the fictitious name Rupert Tich, Reuters noted.

In 2025, it was reported that two women and a man from Bulgaria were found guilty in London in a high-profile espionage case for Russia.

They allegedly acted on behalf of former Wirecard board member Marsalek.