Ex-intelligence officer accused of betraying Austria in Russia spying trial

Former intelligence official Egisto Ott has gone on trial in Vienna, accused of spying for Russia in what’s being dubbed Austria’s largest spy trial in years.

Egisto Ott, who informed the court docket on Thursday that he was not responsible, is charged with having handed over data to Russian intelligence officers and to Jan Marsalek, the fugitive govt of collapsed German funds agency Wirecard.

The prosecutor informed the court docket that Ott, 63, was “not romantic about Russia” however had acted out of monetary motives and frustration along with his profession. “Merely put, this was betraying the nation.” he stated.

Ott’s lawyer, Anna Mair, rejected the allegations.

“Do not you suppose that if he had actually been spying for Russia, he would have lined his tracks?” she requested.

The prosecutor argued that folks like Ott had been “very vulnerable” to working for the Russians, saying: “They’re annoyed of their careers and urgently want cash.”

Ott had performed “glorious” work for the Russian secret service”, the prosecution added.

The previous intelligence official had been broke since 2013 on the newest, the court docket heard: “The Russian secret service pays very effectively.”

He’s alleged to have “abused his authority” as an Austrian intelligence official by gathering massive quantities of private knowledge, similar to places, automobile registration numbers, or journey actions.

Prosecutors say he did this between 2015 and 2020 with out authorisation, usually utilizing nationwide and worldwide police databases.

In addition they accuse him of supporting “a secret intelligence service of the Russian Federation to the detriment of the Republic of Austria” by gathering secret details and a considerable amount of private knowledge from police databases between 2017 and 2021.

In addition to abuse of authority, Egisto Ott is charged with corruption and espionage in opposition to Austria and if discovered responsible faces as much as 5 years in jail.

The spy scandal has revived fears that Austria stays a hotbed of Russian espionage exercise and observers may also be watching carefully for particulars that would emerge about Jan Marsalek.

Marsalek, who can be an Austrian citizen, is needed by German police for alleged fraud and is at present believed to be in Moscow, having fled through Austria in 2020.

The topic of an Interpol Crimson Discover, he’s alleged to be an intelligence asset for the FSB, Russia’s secretive safety service.

Prosecutors allege that Egisto Ott handed data to Marsalek and unknown representatives of the Russian intelligence service, and acquired cost in return.

In 2022, they are saying, Marsalek commissioned him to acquire a laptop computer containing secret digital safety {hardware} utilized by EU states for safe digital communication. The laptop computer, they are saying, was handed over to the Russian intelligence service.

Ott can be accused of handing over three Austrian authorities cell telephones to Russia through Marsalek. The units belonged to high-ranking staff of the Austrian inside ministry.

Ott informed the court docket he had not handed over the cell telephones to anybody – “actually to not the Russian secret service”. He stated he had “bodily destroyed” the units by smashing them with a hammer.

He stated the media had made him “public enemy primary” and rejected the prosecutor’s claims that he was annoyed or broke. “I’m nearly 64 years previous and wish nothing greater than to retire,” he stated.

In the meantime, prosecutors within the Austrian city of Wiener Neustadt have informed the BBC {that a} former MP, Thomas Schellenbacher, has been charged with serving to Marsalek to flee following the collapse of the Wirecard firm in 2020, when it emerged that €1.9bn (£1.7bn) was lacking from its accounts.

Schellenbacher is alleged to have helped Jan Marsalek fly to Belarus, from Unhealthy Vöslau in Austria, in June 2020.

Schellenbacher was an MP for the far-right Freedom Social gathering (FPÖ), which has been accused by Austria’s Inexperienced Social gathering, now in opposition, of enabling Russian espionage, of appearing as “an extension of Russia’s arm” in Austria.

The FPÖ and its chief Herbert Kickl have denied the allegations – and haven’t confronted any authorized motion in reference to any of them.

Marsalek, who was the Wirecard’s Chief Working Officer, has since been charged with fraud and embezzlement, suspected of getting inflated firm’s stability sheet whole and gross sales quantity.

He’s additionally believed to have been the controller of a bunch of Bulgarians who had been convicted in London in 2025, of spying for Russia.

Messages from that trial reveal Marsalek has had cosmetic surgery to change his look in addition to particulars of his life as a fugitive.

“I am off to mattress. Had one other beauty surgical procedure, attempting to look in a different way, and I’m useless drained and my head hurts,” he wrote to one of many Bulgarians, Roussev, on Telegram in February 2022.

In one other, dated 11 Might 2021, Roussev congratulated Marsalek for studying Russian.

“Properly I’m attempting to enhance my expertise on a couple of fronts. Languages is one in all them,” the Austrian responded.

“In my new function as a world fugitive I need to outperform James Bond.”