If proven, Jan Marsalek’s claims would be clear indicator of Moscow interfering directly in an EU nation’s political leadership Jan Marsalek and Sebastian Kurz

A Russian spymaster claimed he had helped to bring down an Austrian chancellor, according to documents obtained by The Telegraph.

Jan Marsalek, the fugitive former Wirecard executive, said he had been involved in an operation that had “successfully toppled” Sebastian Kurz, who stepped down amid allegations of corruption in 2021.

The messages, detailed in secret investigation files seen by The Telegraph, were sent to Orlin Roussev, his spy ringleader, who has since been jailed in Britain for espionage.

If proven, Marsalek’s claims would be a clear indicator of the Russian state interfering directly in the political leadership of an EU nation. Jan Marsalek, the fugitive former Wirecard executive, pictured in Red Square, Moscow Jan Marsalek, the fugitive former Wirecard executive, pictured in Red Square, Moscow

The Kremlin has long sought to sow division and destabilise governments across Europe, according to the assessment of a number of security agencies.

Marsalek is one of the world’s most wanted men and has been on the run since June 2020 when his company, the German tech giant Wirecard, collapsed with a £1.6bn hole in its books.

Since his disappearance, it has emerged that he has been working for the Kremlin for more than a decade, and British police have said he is involved in espionage on an “industrial” scale.

He is wanted for fraud and is being investigated for spying in a number of European countries, including his native Austria. Marsalek’s connections

Countries where Marsalek had access to a network of spies and police

RussiaRussiaUSUSLibyaLibyaTurkeyTurkeyFranceFranceHong KongHong Kong

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Magnitsky sanctions and former Conservative party leader, said The Telegraph’s investigation highlighted how “brazen” Russia was becoming.

He added: “They don’t even care if people believe they are doing it. They think we are very weak on it all, that we can’t retaliate – so they just have free rein.”

Graeme Downie, a Labour MP who sits on the defence select committee, said The Telegraph’s findings were “worrying”, adding: “Ultimately, Putin’s strategic goal is to fundamentally split democracies from each other.”

Mr Kurz was the world’s youngest leader when he first became chancellor of Austria in 2017 at the age of 31.

However, his stratospheric rise – which saw him hold the post twice – was marred by allegations of corruption, including that public money was used for political advertising. Mr Kurz has always denied the allegations.

When Marsalek’s spy ring, led by Roussev, was arrested in the UK, police seized hundreds of thousands of messages detailing the operations plotted from British soil.

A number of these were shared with authorities including the Austrians, who are investigating whether their spies provided information to Marsalek and therefore the Russians.

One of their investigative files, examined by The Telegraph – which is part of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network – shows messages sent by the man authorities have identified as Marsalek using the alias “Rupert Ticz” on Oct 22, 2021.

Marsalek is talking about “a guy” who “was actually working for us for a while” but says that “now he’s the victim of a witch hunt by the team of the former chancellor”.

He goes on to say that “we’ve successfully toppled” the former chancellor “by confiscating the mobile phone” of the man “who’s managing their secret campaign financing”. Sebastian Kurz resigned as the Austrian chancellor in October 2021 Sebastian Kurz resigned as the Austrian chancellor in October 2021 Credit: AFP via Getty Images/Joe Klamar

Marsalek then shared a link to an article about the corruption allegations against Mr Kurz and the phone, which had been seized from Thomas Schmid, one of the leader’s closest associates and a former senior official in Austria’s finance ministry.

Mr Schmid’s phone had been seized in November 2019. The extensive communications recovered from the device subsequently became important evidence in several corruption investigations.

In October 2021, prosecutors carried out raids involving Mr Kurz’s government and his political party, the ÖVP, over allegations concerning the misuse of public money for politically favourable opinion polls and media coverage.

Pressure from the investigation led to Mr Kurz announcing his resignation as chancellor on Oct 9, 2021. Two weeks later, Marsalek wrote to Roussev that it was “quite a messy story”.

Later in the conversation, he referred again to the political consequences of the information recovered from the phone, saying: “And the rest of the chats ‘killed’ the chancellor.”

The documents contain no independent evidence that Marsalek actually organised the seizure of the phone.

Marsalek’s links to Austria’s former domestic intelligence service, the BVT, have been investigated extensively, and a number of senior spies and police officers are accused of handing him information for use by the Russian state.

The messages between Marsalek and Roussev are contained in Austrian police files investigating “support for a foreign intelligence service – interference in Austrian politics”.

The documents also refer to possible offences relating to elections, breaches of official duties and corruption.

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An assessment of the messages written by investigators notes that “Marsalek stated unequivocally that ‘they’ had ‘toppled’ the chancellor in a successful operation”.

The report continues: “Marsalek thus admitted to Roussev that he had been involved in the confiscation of this mobile phone.”

The investigators therefore interpreted the conversation as Marsalek claiming involvement in the seizure of a phone that had contributed to the chancellor’s downfall.

The same assessment noted that it remained unknown whether Marsalek’s reference to “the guy” who had worked “for us” meant Wirecard or a Russian intelligence service.

The document states: “The investigation into this matter is still ongoing.”

Mr Kurz declined to comment on the messages and the investigators’ assessment.

Sources close to the former chancellor said he had always believed that the allegations against him were politically motivated and was shocked to learn that they may be connected to Russia.

At the time the messages were sent, Marsalek was living in Moscow and carrying out work primarily for Vladimir Putin’s Federal Security Service (FSB), British prosecutors have said.

It is understood the messages were obtained from mobile phones and devices seized by the Metropolitan Police from the guest house in Great Yarmouth where Roussev was living when he was arrested in February 2023. The moment of Roussev’s arrest in Great Yarmouth in 2023 The moment of Roussev’s arrest in Great Yarmouth in 2023 Credit: PA Wire/Metropolitan Police

He was one of a number of Bulgarians arrested in the UK accused of spying on behalf of Russia. They were later convicted, and Roussev – the leader of the espionage network, who authorities said was taking his orders directly from Marsalek – was jailed for 10 years and eight months.

The group was organising surveillance operations on Kremlin opponents and investigative journalists, and discussed kidnapping as well as planning disinformation campaigns.

The network also had access to sensitive Austrian government information. In May last year, The Telegraph revealed that three mobile phones belonging to senior Austrian interior ministry officials had ended up in Russia.

The phones had been damaged during a canoeing accident in 2017 and were handed to a forensic officer for data recovery.

According to Austrian investigative records, they later reached people associated with Marsalek. Roussev organised their collection in Vienna and transfer to Russia via Istanbul in 2022.

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These were different phones from Mr Schmid’s device, which had been seized by Austrian investigators in November 2019. No connection between the two incidents has been established.

The reference to a confiscated phone concerns one of the most important pieces of evidence in the Austrian political corruption investigations of recent years.

Mr Schmid was a senior figure in the finance ministry and a close associate of Mr Kurz. He later became head of the state-owned holding company ÖBAG.

His mobile phone was seized by Austrian investigators on Nov 12, 2019, and police recovered extensive communications, including messages that had previously been deleted.

Those messages later became part of several corruption investigations concerning political appointments, government advertising and allegations about the use of public money for party-political purposes. Roussev organised the collection of the phones in Vienna and their transfer to Russia via Istanbul in 2022, according to Austrian investigative records Orlin Roussev organised the collection of the phones in Vienna and their transfer to Russia via Istanbul in 2022, according to Austrian investigative records Credit: PA Wire/Metropolitan Police

On Oct 6, 2021, Austrian prosecutors carried out searches at the federal chancellery, the finance ministry and the headquarters of Mr Kurz’s ÖVP.

The searches were part of an investigation into allegations that taxpayer money had been used to finance politically favourable polls and coverage, and led to Mr Kurz’s resignation.

Marsalek’s message to Roussev was written 13 days later, almost two years after the original confiscation of Mr Schmid’s phone.

By this point, details of the case – including reports about thousands of intimate photographs on Mr Schmid’s phone that Marsalek joked about – had already appeared in the local press.

Marsalek has been out of reach of European authorities for years, and The Telegraph was also unable to contact him

Huh. A few years back or so, several, I read about the Austrians being firmly in the orbit of Russia. They are pieces of fucking shit was my takeaway.

Austria? Well goodday mate, throw another rib on the barbie!