Military Gustav Gustenau was suspected of having ties with Russia and was removed from office Head of the Office of Security Policy in the Austrian Ministry of Defense, which advises the military leadership and the Minister of Defense. It is reported by the Financial Times.
His connection with the former manager of the Wirecard company Jan Marsalek was also revealed. The publication notes that Gustenau allocated funds from the budget for projects in which Marsalek participated, they also met several times. No charges were brought against Gustenau, and he himself said that “contacts with Russia were of an exclusively official nature and took place in accordance with orders.”
Now Gustenau holds an “undefined research position” at the National Defense Academy, the newspaper notes … Also, the military man insists that he changed his place of work of his own free will.
Former board member of the German payment system Wirecard Jan Marsalek is called one of the most wanted criminals in the world. According to Kurier, he bragged to bankers in London a secret document that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) prepared after the poisoning of former GRU employee Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. In the document, among other things, the formula of the “Newbie” was indicated.
Marsalek, along with the head of Wirecard, Marcus Brown, was one of the key figures in the payment system, included in the list of the most technologically advanced in Europe. In June 2020, an audit of the national regulator revealed a shortage of assets of 1.9 billion euros. Due to the inability to fulfill obligations to creditors for 3.5 billion euros, the company was forced to file a claim for its own bankruptcy.
Interpol announced a hunt for him. The exact location of Marsalek is unknown. In the summer of 2020, information appeared that he could have escaped to Russia. He allegedly entered the country through Belarus, where he flew in a private jet.