Bethany BelleVienna correspondent
Former intelligence officer Egisto Ott went on trial in Vienna on charges of spying for Russia in what has been called Austria’s largest spy trial in years.
Egisto Ott, who was acquitted in court on Thursday, was accused of passing information to Russian intelligence officers and Jan Marsalek, a fugitive executive at bankrupt German payments company Wirecard.
Prosecutors told the court that Ott, 63, was “not romantic about Russia” but acted out of financial motivation and frustration with his career. “Simply put, this was a betrayal of our country.” he said
Ott’s lawyer, Anna Mair, denied the claims.
“If he really was spying for Russia, don’t you think he would have covered his tracks?” she asked.
Prosecutors allege that people like Ott are “extremely vulnerable” to working for the Russians, saying “they are frustrated with their careers and urgently need money.”
Prosecutors added that Ott performed “excellent” work for the Russian secret service.
The former intelligence agent has been bankrupt since at least 2013. “Russian secret services pay very well,” the court heard.
He is accused of “abusing his powers” as an Austrian intelligence official by collecting large amounts of personal data, including locations, vehicle registration numbers and travel trends.
Prosecutors say he did this without permission between 2015 and 2020, often using national and international police databases.
They also accused him of collecting secret facts and large amounts of personal data from police databases between 2017 and 2021, thereby supporting “the secret intelligence services of the Russian Federation to the detriment of the Republic of Austria.”
In addition to abuse of power, Egisto Ott is accused of corruption and espionage against Austria and could face up to five years in prison if found guilty.
The spy scandal has revived concerns that Austria remains a hotbed of Russian espionage and observers will also be watching closely for any details that may reveal about Jan Marsalek.
Marsalek, who is also an Austrian citizen, is wanted by German police on fraud charges and is believed to be currently in Moscow, having fled via Austria in 2020.
The subject of Interpol’s Red Notice, he is suspected of being an intelligence asset for Russia’s secret security service, the FSB.
Prosecutors allege that Egisto Ott passed on information to Marsalek and an unknown Russian intelligence representative and received money in return.
They say that in 2022, Marsalek commissioned them to purchase a laptop containing secret electronic security hardware used by EU countries for secure electronic communications. The laptop was reportedly handed over to Russian intelligence.
Ott is also accused of transferring three Austrian government cell phones to Russia through Marsalek. The device belonged to a senior employee of the Austrian Ministry of Interior.
Ott told the court he did not hand over the phone to anyone. “It was clearly not handed over to the Russian secret services.” He said he “physically destroyed” the device by smashing it with a hammer.
He said the media had made him “Public Enemy No. 1” and dismissed prosecutors’ claims that he was frustrated or broke. “I’m almost 64 and I want nothing more than to retire,” he said.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, told the BBC that former lawmaker Thomas Schellenbacher was accused of helping Marsalek escape after the Wirecard company went bankrupt in 2020. At the time, €1.9bn (£1.7bn) was found to be missing from the company’s accounts.
Schellenbacher is alleged to have helped Jan Marsalek fly from Bad Vöslau, Austria, to Belarus in June 2020.
Schellenbacher was a member of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ). The current opposition Austrian Green Party has accused Austria of allowing Russian spying and acting as an “extension of the Russian arm.”
The FPÖ and its leader Herbert Kickl have denied the allegations, and no legal action has been taken against either of them.
Marsalek, who was Wirecard’s chief operating officer, was later indicted on fraud and embezzlement charges for allegedly inflating the company’s balance sheet totals and sales figures.
He is also believed to have been the controller of a group of Bulgarians who were convicted in London in 2025 on charges of spying for Russia.
According to messages from that trial, Marsalek underwent plastic surgery to change his appearance and details of his life as a fugitive.
“I went to bed. I had another plastic surgery to look different and I’m so tired and my head hurts,” he wrote to Rusev, one of the Bulgarians, on Telegram in February 2022.
In another document dated May 11, 2021, Roussev congratulated Marsalek on learning Russian.
“I’m trying to improve my skills in several areas. Languages are one of them,” the Austrian replied.
“In my new role as an international fugitive, I must surpass James Bond.”
