From school dropout to billionaire fraudster wanted worldwide! Although the presumed whereabouts of the Austrian Jan Marsalek are known, the Russian flies quietly on holiday by choice.
Jan Marsalek aka Maks Mauer aka German Bazhenov – the suspected protagonist in the Wirecard financial scandal has many faces on the run from German justice – and just as many passports. When the Vienna resident fled on June 19, 2020, as a citizen of the Caribbean state of Grenada, he boarded the waiting private jet at the airport in Bad Vöslau (Lower Austria).
In jeans, shirt, leather jacket, sneakers and with a small suitcase and clothes bag. The spontaneous trip was organized by a former employee of the Austrian Office for the Protection of the Constitution. According to later statements, he did not want to know that German detectives were looking for his friend. There was no international arrest warrant at that time.
Collaboration with secret agents
In addition to his luxurious lifestyle, the ex-board member of Wirecard AG had always been in close contact with politics and news services. In addition to connections to Austrian officials, Marsalek is said to have worked primarily with Russian intelligence agents, providing them with personal information and laundering millions of oligarchs. Well in the knowledge that these business relationships could one day come in handy.
And his plan seems to be working: After taking off in Austria, the private jet carrying the fugitive landed three hours later in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Where the official trace of Jan Marsalek has been lost. There was little doubt, however, that he had fled across the border to Russia, just 160 miles away.
This time disguised as Maks Mauer from Bregenz – as the London-based research platform “Dossier Center” claims to have discovered together with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. Information, documents and video material were sent from Russian sources to prove that the wanted Austrian lives in a villa in the most upscale neighborhood of Moscow. Under the protection of the domestic secret service FSB.
With a long beard and in a luxury car through Moscow
On images from a security camera, Jan Marsalek with a long beard is said to get into a dark luxury SUV with diplomatic license plates. In general, unlike his identity, his pompous lifestyle would not have changed. On the contrary: just a few weeks ago, he flew to Sochi to enjoy a few days of luxury vacation.
And the German investigative authorities must watch and do nothing – a recently written letter to the authorities in Moscow (unsurprisingly) came to nothing. Especially since Jan Marsalek alias Maks Mauer alias German Bazhenov is said to have been granted Russian citizenship in June last year, according to insiders information. So his adopted country would not have to extradite him…
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
