Former Austrian intelligence officer Egisto Ott will stand trial on charges of corruption and espionage for Russia.
Points of attention
- Former Austrian intelligence officer Egisto Ott is facing trial for espionage and corruption linked to Russia.
- Ott is accused of collecting classified information and personal data from police databases with the intention of sharing them with Russian intelligence officials.
- The case also involves allegations of bribery, abuse of office, and violation of state secrets against Ott and an unnamed police officer.
Former Austrian intelligence officer spied on Russia
The Vienna prosecutor's office has opened a case against Ott and an unnamed police officer, who are accused of working for or supporting an intelligence agency to the detriment of Austria, bribery, abuse of office and violation of state secrets.
Otto is accused, in particular, of aiding the Russian intelligence service by “collecting classified information and a large amount of personal data from police databases between 2017 and 2021 with the aim of transferring them to Jan Marsalek and unknown representatives of the Russian intelligence service.”
Marsalek is a former board member of the Wirecard payment system, which went bankrupt in a scandal in 2020, owing creditors nearly $4 billion. Marsalek has been on the run since then.
This year, a London court found that he ran a network of Bulgarian spies in the UK who worked for Russia.
In addition, Ott is accused of providing an unknown person, at Marsalek's request, with a laptop computer equipped with SINA-S technology, which includes equipment used by European Union governments for secure communications, in exchange for $23,000.
The laptop was then handed over to the Russian intelligence service, and Ott allegedly received a monetary reward for it, prosecutors say.
The ex-spy denies all charges.
Recall that on March 29, Austria detained a former officer of the already reformed Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism (BVT), Egisto Ott, on suspicion of abuse of office and conducting intelligence activities to the detriment of Austria.
The detainee is accused of passing secret information and the contents of the mobile phones of high-ranking Austrian officials to Russian intelligence services.
