Egisto Ott, 63, a former Austrian intelligence official, denies charges of providing secret information to Russian agents, including Jo-Jan Marsalek, former executive at the collapsed Wirecard payments company. Ott is accused of unauthorized collection of personal data, abuse of authority, and espionage against Austria, allegedly supporting Russian secret intelligence activities from 2015 and 2018. Prosecutors claim Ott handed over sensitive information like locations, vehicle registrations, and internal police databases to Moscow. The trial highlights longstanding fears of Russian espionage threatening Austria. Marsalek, an Austrian-German fugitive, is alleged to have provided classified materials to Russian intelligence and fled to Moscow after the Wirecard collapse in 2020. Additional accused includes Thomas Schellenbacher, an Austrian MP, charged with assisting Marsalek’s escape and linked to Russian espionage and far-right political activities in Austria. The case exposes complex espionage networks operating in Central Europe linked to Moscow.
Category: Intelligence & Espionage
Subcategory: Human Intelligence (HUMINT)
Incident Type: Recruitment of locals
Country: Austria
Source report: www.bbc.com/news/arti…
