Russian media is reporting that former Wirecard chief operating officer, Jan Marsalek, is hiding out in Russia with funds he transferred using Bitcoin. 

According to Kommersant, Marsalek managed to use Bitcoin (BTC) to move funds from Dubai to Russia, where he is now hiding from international law enforcement agencies. He is said to be staying at a house somewhere near Moscow, under the protection of the Russian authorities. 

Given the documents leaked earlier this month, in which Marsalek bragged of connections to the Russian intelligence services, and the reports of him hiding under Russian protection, it now seems clear that the former Wirecard COO was working in collusion with the Kremlin. 

As previously reported, the drama started in late June when auditors from EY discovered $2.1 billion that couldn’t be accounted for. Wirecard top brass said the missing funds were held in Phillipine banks, and Marsalek departed on a mission to ‘find them’ – a mission he never returned from.

Some are now speculating that Russia’s Federal Security Service helped make it seem like Marsalek had entered the Philippines, but really squirreled him away to Moscow. 

Shortly after Marsalek’s disappearance German police arrested the firm’s CEO, Markus Braun, and Wirecard collapsed, filing for bankruptcy. 

This led to the suspension of several crypto cards, like those issued by Crypto.com and TenX, which were clients of Wirecard. However, those cards were reactivated shortly afterwards, when it became clear the Wirecard’s UK operations were not affected by the scandal, and clearance was given by the Financial Conduct Authority. 

AYO.NEWS says:

With tensions between the west and Russia now higher than at any point since the Cold War, it seems likely that Russia is actively trying to destabilise critical economic and financial infrastructure through subversion. 

The question now is, just how far does the Wirecard web reach? 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020