Jan Marsalek
Jan Marsalek (also Maršálek, born 15 March 1980 in Vienna) is an Austrian former manager, known for his position as board member and chief operating officer of the German payment processing firm Wirecard. He has been a fugitive since June 2020 because of his role in the Wirecard scandal.
Biography
Marsalek attended various schools in Austria, but did not obtain a degree. At the age of 19, he founded an e-commerce software company.
He started working for Wirecard in 2000 and was initially hired for his knowledge on WAP systems. On 1 February 2010, he became the firm's chief operating officer and also joined the company board.
His last known residence was in Munich.
Accusations
Marsalek is considered one of the main culprits in the Wirecard accounting scandal. The Financial Times reported that Marsalek is a person of interest for a number of European governments due to his alleged links to Russian intelligence.[1] Investigation by Bellingcat, Der Spiegel, and Insider indicated that Marsalek flew to Minsk hours after he was fired.[2] On 19 July 2020, the German Handelsblatt reported that Marsalek was suspected to be in Russia, where he was suspected to live under supervision of the GRU in a mansion near Moscow.[3]
References
- Murphy, Paul; Jones, Sam; Warrell, Helen (10 July 2020). "From payments to armaments: the double life of Wirecard's Jan Marsalek". www.ft.com. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- "World's Most Wanted Man Jan Marsalek Located in Belarus; Data Points to Russian Intel Links". bellingcat. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- "Marsalek soll sich nahe Moskau aufhalten" tagesspiegel.de, 19 July 2020