Jan Marsalek claims that he took part in the operation that led to the resignation of former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. This is reported by the British newspaper The Telegraph, citing secret investigation materials that include communications between Marsalek and Orlin Roussev.
In a message from October 2021, sent around two weeks after Kurz’s resignation, Marsalek wrote:
„We successfully brought down the chancellor.“According to the report, he links the operation to the seizure of the mobile phone belonging to Thomas Schmid — a former secretary-general of Austria’s Finance Ministry and later head of the state holding company ÖBAG.
The phone that rocked Austrian politics
Schmid’s phone was confiscated in November 2019. The chats it contained between senior representatives of the Austrian People’s Party and figures close to Kurz became key evidence in several corruption investigations.
On 6 October 2021, Austrian prosecutors carried out searches at the chancellery, the Finance Ministry and the party headquarters. Three days later, Kurz resigned as chancellor after his coalition partner, the „Greens,“ called for political change against the backdrop of the corruption investigation. Kurz denies any wrongdoing.
Elsewhere in the communications, Marsalek claims that „the rest of the chats finished off the chancellor.“ According to The Telegraph, he described Schmid as someone who had worked for „us“ for a while, but later became the target of a „witch hunt“ by the former chancellor’s entourage.
No evidence of direct involvement
The investigation materials do not independently prove that Marsalek organised the seizure of Schmid’s phone or that he had access to the Austrian operation. Nor is it clear whom he means by „we“ — a Russian intelligence service, Wirecard or another organisation.
The Austrian publication Der Standard points out that the messages were written almost two years after the phone was confiscated, when information about the case was already public. In one of the chats, Marsalek also forwarded an article about Schmid’s phone. This raises questions as to whether he was describing an actual operation or exaggerating his own role.
Marsalek is a former executive of the German payments company Wirecard, which collapsed in 2020, leaving a shortfall of around 1.9 billion euros. He is missing and wanted by German and Austrian authorities.
The link to the Bulgarian spy network
Orlin Roussev, who received the messages, was sentenced in the United Kingdom to 10 years and 8 months in prison for taking part in a spy network on behalf of Russia. British prosecutors said that Roussev received instructions from Marsalek.
The network included six Bulgarian nationals who were convicted of espionage following an investigation in the United Kingdom. The group monitored journalists, Russian opposition figures and other targets in several European countries.
Sebastian Kurz has not commented on the new claims to The Telegraph.
Sources: derstandard.de, diepresse.com, aol.com