Austrian Ex-Intelligence Officer Found Guilty of Russia Spying Charges
The jury said Ott passed sensitive data to Russian intelligence and Jan Marsalek, and he received a four-year-and-one-month sentence.
- On Wednesday, a Vienna jury convicted former Austrian intelligence officer Egisto Ott of spying for Russia, sentencing him to four years and one month in prison.
- Prosecutors told the court that Ott was "not romantic about Russia," but acted out of financial motives and frustration, collecting personal data from police databases for Jan Marsalek between 2015 and 2020.
- The court heard that Ott obtained interior ministry work phones after they accidentally fell into the River Danube and copied secret electronic security hardware for Russian intelligence at Marsalek's behest.
- Fugitive Marsalek, currently believed to be in Moscow, remains subject to an Interpol Red Notice spanning 196-member nations, with alleged operations across Europe including Bulgarians convicted in London last year.
- The verdict marks Austria's biggest spy trial in years, reviving fears that the Republic remains a hub for espionage; when authorities arrested Ott in 2024, then-Chancellor Karl Nehammer called it a threat to national security.
61 Articles
61 Articles
A court in Vienna has sentenced a former Austrian intelligence officer to four years and one month in prison for data transfers to Russia and corruption crimes. May 22, 2026
A former Austrian intelligence official has been convicted for passing confidential information to Moscow's accomplices for years....
The verdict against the suspected spy is not yet final. He has appealed.
Austria: Ex-Intelligence Officer Convicted of Spying for Russia
An Austrian court has found former intelligence officer Egisto Ott guilty of spying for Russia, in one of the country’s most significant espionage cases in recent years. A Vienna court ruled that Egisto Ott, 63, had assisted Russian intelligence by providing sensitive information and access to official data, acting at the behest of Jan Marsalek, a fugitive former executive of the collapsed German payments firm Wirecard. Ott was sentenced to four…
Egisto Otta was sentenced to four years and one month ' s imprisonment.
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