Jan Marsalek, the recently-prosecuted former Chief Operations Officer of Wirecard, the German-based payment processor, has allegedly held secret documents about the use of a Russian chemical weapon in the UK, as he had ties to Russian intelligence services.
It has been reported by the Financial Times that he bragged off his intelligence services’ ties in an effort to further integrate with London traders.
However, recovered documents contain specific data on the formula for the world’s deadliest nerve agent, known as Novichok.
Jan Marsalek may have been tied to Russian intelligence services https://t.co/iPeRDj6CAs — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) July 10, 2020
The chemical weapon was used in the poisoning of a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Julia on March 4, 2018.
As per the report, military experts from the UK don’t believe that the leaked documents have come from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), member states in Western Europe. Nor do they believe them to have come from the US, due to its restricted circulation that is limited to the OPCW member states.
It has been analyzed that German authorities are trying to figure out Marsalek’s whereabouts, as he stepped down from Wirecard in June after authorities discovered a $2.1B shortfall on the firm’s books.
Likewise, Markus Braun, the former Chief Executive Officer of Wirecard, was detained by Munich police on June 23 after being charged with misrepresenting the company’s balances.
The report said that Marsalek entered the Philippines via Manila in June before traveling to China from Cebu, according to the Filipino immigration records.
Thus, Menardo Guevarra, the Philippine Justice Secretary, stated:
“CCTV footage does not show him arriving here, and there is no record of any flight to China scheduled in the morning of June 24 from Cebu.”
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Financial Times