Austria’s biggest espionage trial in decades puts former intelligence officer in dock

Former intelligence officer Egisto Ott went on trial in Vienna on Thursday on charges of spying for Russia in what was billed as Austria’s biggest espionage trial in years.

Egisto Ott, 63, is accused of providing information to Russian intelligence officials and Jan Marsalek, a fugitive executive at collapsed German payments company Wirecard.

Ott denies the accusations.

Jan Marsalek is also an Austrian citizen and is wanted by German police on suspicion of fraud. He is currently believed to be in Moscow and fled via Austria in 2020.

He is the subject of an Interpol red notice for an alleged intelligence operative of Russia’s secretive security agency, the FSB.

The espionage scandal has renewed concerns that Austria remains a hotbed of Russian espionage, and observers will be watching closely for details that may emerge about Marsalek.

Vienna prosecutors said Egisto Ott “abused his position” as an Austrian intelligence officer by collecting large amounts of personal data, such as location, vehicle registration numbers or travel history.

They say he did so without authorization between 2015 and 2020, often using national and international police databases.

Prosecutors also accuse him of collecting secret facts and large amounts of personal data from police databases between 2017 and 2021 to support “the secret intelligence services of the Russian Federation against the interests of the Republic of Austria.”

They said Egisto Ott provided this information to Jan Masalek and unidentified representatives of Russian intelligence and received payment.

Prosecutors said that in 2022, Jan Marsalek entrusted him with obtaining a laptop containing secret electronic security hardware used by EU countries for secure electronic communications. They said the laptop was turned over to Russian intelligence services.

There are reports that he is also suspected of passing phone data of senior Austrian Interior Ministry officials to Russia.

Austria’s “Standard” newspaper said that Egisto Ott apparently obtained the work calls after accidentally falling into the Danube River while traveling by boat at the Ministry of Interior.

He allegedly copied the contents and passed them on to Jan Masalek and Moscow.

Egisto Ott is accused of abuse of power, corruption and espionage against Austria and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

When he was arrested in 2024, then Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer described the case as a “threat to democracy and our national security.”

In another development, prosecutors in the Austrian town of Wiener Neustadt told the BBC that former lawmaker Thomas Schellenbacher was accused of helping Marsalek escape after the collapse of Wirecard in 2020, when €1.9 billion disappeared from the company’s accounts.

Schellenbach allegedly helped Jan Marsalek fly from Bad Voslau, Austria, to Belarus in June 2020.

Schellenbach is a member of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), which is accused by the opposition Austrian Green Party of facilitating Russian espionage and acting as an “arm extension” of Russia in Austria.

The FPÖ and its leader Herbert Kickl deny the accusations and are not facing any legal action related to them.

Marsalek, who was Wirecard’s chief operating officer, was accused of fraud and embezzlement for allegedly inflating the company’s balance sheet totals and sales.

He is also believed to be the controller of a group of Bulgarians who were convicted in London in 2025 of spying for Russia.

Information from the trial revealed that Marsalek underwent plastic surgery to change his appearance and details of his life as a fugitive.

In February 2022, he wrote on Telegram to Roussev, one of the Bulgarians: “I’m going to bed. I had another plastic surgery to try to look different. I’m so tired and have a headache.”

In another letter dated May 11, 2021, Rousseff congratulated Marsalek on learning Russian.

“Well, I’m trying to improve my skills in a few areas. Languages ​​are one of them,” the Austrian replied.

“In my new role as an international fugitive, I have to be more than James Bond.”