Causa Ott and Co:

The networks of Russian spies in Austria

Egisto Ott is in custody (symbolic image). His espionage activities for Russia were uncovered through chats.(Bild: stock.adobe.com, youtube.com, Krone KREATIV)

Who is the former secret service agent Egisto Ott? How a suspected double agent shook the Republic of Austria and what this has to do with Wirecard and politics. The "Krone" in search of clues. 

Egisto Ott. A secret service agent on the wrong track. Who is this man? How was he able to destabilize the intelligence service, shake the republic, who was involved, what role did politics play? There are many unanswered questions.

Arrest on Good Friday
Egisto Ott's adventurous journey ends on Good Friday in his native Carinthia. He is arrested. For suspected espionage for Russia. The civil servant, who was suspended in 2021, is said to have systematically supplied Russian intelligence services with information from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and personal data from police databases. He will go into custody on Easter Sunday. Not the first time. Ott is accused of serious crimes. And he has become a political issue. 

The network of suspected spies and their political connections(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

Ott was fascinated by Jörg Haider
Ott began his career as a police officer in the early 1990s, he came from the SPÖ camp, but was fascinated by FPÖ star Jörg Haider. The connections to the blue party lasted. And he was an uncomfortable employee who often caused offense. 2015 marked the beginning of a disastrous relationship. With BVT department head Martin Weiss. It was suspected that the two had formed a cell to provide information for the Russians. Explosive: Ott is said to have planned a mini-secret service in the Foreign Ministry of Karin Kneissl (FPÖ). Kneissl became internationally known for her dances with Putin. Who she still defends today.

Egisto Ott is in custody (symbolic image). His espionage activities for Russia came to light through chats.(Bild: stock.adobe.com, youtube.com, Krone KREATIV)

Contacts to Marsalek
Egisto Ott is also allegedly responsible for a convolute against constitutional protectors that led to the WKStA storming the authority in 2018. A scandal and low point in the history of the secret service and an international sensation. Austria's reputation as a partner badly tarnished. Ott and Weiss were no longer at the BVT. Weiss was hired by Wirecard. At the scandalous company - Weiss helped the fugitive CEO, Jan Marsalek from Vienna, to flee to Russia. Weiss confessed to having ordered queries from Ott for Marsalek.

Chancellor worries about national security
But the secret service agent's contacts and network also included politicians. There was Hans Jörg Jenewein, Herbert Kickl's former man for the rough stuff. He has since left the party. But he is said to have chatted intensively with Ott. Even during a U-committee. Now the ÖVP wants to summon him to the current committee to clarify the connections. Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer is extremely concerned: "I am glad that the judiciary is now doing its job, because nothing less than the national security of the Republic is at stake here. It's about averting the danger of foreign services gaining influence, right up to the political arena." 

Helmut Brandstätter from the NEOS also became the focus of the former secret service agent. Ott approached him, he says. That was during the Ibiza committee. He wanted to provide information. There was a meeting, but there was no relevant information, according to the politician.

Legendary boat trip
And then there was the legendary boozy boat trip of Ministry of the Interior people in 2017. Starting point of the revelation of the calamities. The boat capsized, cell phones belonging to important officials fell into the water. A BVT IT expert siphoned off the data, which ended up with Ott. He is said to have handed it over to Russian agents in a Viennese apartment - as reported by the "Krone" newspaper. The information also reached former politician and whistleblower Peter Pilz via detours. According to one accusation, he was part of a network and knew Ott well. But Pilz says: "I received the data via USB stick. But nothing to do with Ott. If the ÖVP or others want to implicate me in a Russian network, then that is character assassination. The ÖVP was always for Putin, I was always against him."

Speaking of which: Jan Marsalek, who is considered an important spy for the Russians and their secret service FSB, is said to be under the protection of the Kremlin. According to reputable sources, he is currently mainly in Dubai. Just like former secret service agent Weiss, who worked for Marsalek. The Emirates do not have an extradition agreement with Austria. Nor with Germany, where Marsalek is "most wanted" and where the Wirecard trial for billion-dollar fraud is currently underway.

The presumption of innocence applies to all defendants.