Exclusive
Status: 06/28/2022 5:00 p.m
The Munich public prosecutor’s office has BR-Information dropped their investigation into Marsalek confidante Weiss. The authorities had accused the former secret service agent of helping them escape. In Austria, on the other hand, investigations continue.
There has been no trace of Jan Marsalek since June 19, 2020. On the evening of that day, the former Wirecard board member flew from the small Austrian airport of Bad Vöslau in the direction of the Belarusian capital Minsk. It is still unclear to this day where Marsalek fled from there. Most likely is Russia, because the Viennese native is said to have excellent contacts with the local secret services.
His long-time confidant Martin Weiss also made sure that Marsalek was able to leave the country. A few weeks ago, the ex-employee told in an exclusive interview with the BR and the “Welt am Sonntag” for the first time, how exactly he helped Marsalek organize the flight to Minsk. That’s why Marsalek asked him at dinner in an Italian restaurant in Munich the day before.
The Munich public prosecutor’s office then investigated Weiss – on suspicion of evading criminal prosecution through his involvement in Marsalek’s escape. Weiss had rejected the allegations made against him in an interview: he had no knowledge that the ex-Wirecard board wanted to resign. Weiss says so BR-Information last testified during his interrogation by the public prosecutor’s office in early April.
Insufficient suspicion
The prosecutors were apparently unable to refute the statements. According to information from BR research they have stopped their investigations “because evidence of a crime in the sense of sufficient suspicion cannot be provided with the certainty required for an indictment”. This is what it says in a letter from the authority to Weiss’ lawyer BR research could see. The Munich public prosecutor’s office confirmed the process on request and emphasized: “Due to other crimes, Mr. Weiß is not being investigated.”
In her opinion, the fact that the arrest warrant against Marsalek was only issued on June 22, 2020, three days after his departure for Belarus, also speaks for Weiss. Weiss also had no knowledge of Marsalek’s whereabouts. The former employee of the Austrian secret service BVT had dem BR and told the “Welt am Sonntag” that he was repeatedly in contact with Marsalek until spring 2021. He did not want to ask him where he was.
Finally, the Munich public prosecutor’s office stated in the letter that “covert measures in the form of surveillance and telecommunications surveillance” did not show that the accused knew of Marsalek’s alleged crimes or was privy to his escape plans. In this respect, it remains with rumors and conjectures, which were kept in the media and public, but ultimately did not exceed the stage of initial suspicion in the course of the investigation.
Investigations in Austria continue
The decision of the Munich authority should also be of interest to the Vienna public prosecutor’s office. According to a spokeswoman for the authorities, the investigations against Weiss are continuing there. The criminal prosecutors in Vienna accuse the ex-employee of the former Austrian Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BVT) of corruption, favoritism and the risk of collusion.
From the beginning of 2018 to the end of 2020, Weiss admitted last year during an interrogation by the Vienna public prosecutor’s office that he asked a former colleague of the BVT security authority, which has since been dissolved, to carry out queries on 25 people in police databases, partly at Marsalek’s request . The colleague is said to have received money from Weiss for this. Weiss emphasized in an interview with BR and “Welt am Sonntag”, there is no connection between the payment and the queries. The Vienna public prosecutor’s office does not comment on the procedure on request.