Political scene trembles

Russian spy Egisto Ott confesses!

Egisto Ott is in custody (symbolic image). His espionage activities for Russia came to light through chats.(Bild: Reinhard Holl, romanevgenev, Krone KREATIV)

Ex-BVT agent Egisto Ott was remanded in custody on Easter Monday. He is said to be partially confessing - which will also cause trembling in the political scene.

Chats have not only exposed machinations in politics, but have also exposed ex-BVT employee Egisto Ott and his former superior Martin Weiss as alleged spies for Russia. British law enforcement authorities seized chat histories between the fugitive ex-Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek and the Russian spy who has since been arrested.

Egisto Ott is in custody (symbolic image). His espionage activities for Russia were uncovered through chats.(Bild: Reinhard Holl, romanevgenev, Krone KREATIV)

Russia "systematically" supplied with secret information
They show that Ott "systematically" supplied the Russian secret service with secret, highly confidential information and intelligence from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as well as personal data from police databases.

Partial confession, pre-trial detention accepted: Deal with the public prosecutor?
On Easter Monday, Ott was remanded in custody due to the risk of a cover-up. His ex-son-in-law, however, who had also been arrested on Friday, was released. As the "Krone" has learned, Ott has already made a partial confession and has not appealed against the pre-trial detention order. This suggests that he may be seeking a deal with the public prosecutor's office.

Contacts with NEOS, SPÖ, Greens and FPÖ
The news of the confession will also cause unrest in domestic politics. Ott was also very well connected with members of parliament - for example with the NEOS, the SPÖ (he was an active member) and the Greens. In particular, the name of former Green politician Peter Pilz comes up frequently. Ott and Pilz are said to have known each other since 2009. The cell phone data from a boat accident in 2017, which Ott is said to have sold to the Russians in the summer of 2022, ended up in Pilz's online media in advance. The NEOS EU lead candidate Helmut Brandstätter also met with Ott.

Ott also maintained close contacts with the FPÖ - especially with former MP Hans-Jörg Jenewein. He left the FPÖ in 2022. Jenewein's house had previously been searched in 2021 in connection with Ott. At the time, investigators suspected that Ott had "sold" information to Jenewein. Both denied the allegation. It will be interesting to see whether Ott sticks to this statement in his confession.