Europe's most wanted swindler: Russian intelligence services made Marsalek a “priest” to hide

Jan Marsalek was hidden by the Russian special services/Collage 24 Channel

Jan Marsalek is the most wanted financial criminal in Europe. And, as investigators found out, Russian special services helped him hide from law enforcement officers. And in the guise of a priest.

As noted in the investigation, Jan Marsalek, chief operating officer of the payment company Wirecard, disappeared without a trace in June 2020. And he did it, taking with him several billion dollars.

Recruited by a blonde, and the Russians hid it from law enforcement officers

A month later, The Insider and Bellingcat were able to prove that the fraudster was hiding either in Russia or Belarus. Moreover, he has long-standing ties with the intelligence services of the aggressor country.

Now, The Insider investigators have shared new details. They concern how Marsalek was recruited and then hidden in Russia under the guise of a priest.

Marsalek recruited him then girl is Russian model Natalya Zlobina. During her birthday, she introduced her companion to her acquaintance, whom she introduced as follows: “This is Stas, a GRU general.”

It is interesting that in the official biography Stanislav Petlinsky (or Boris Green) is by no means from the GRU, but from the Presidential Administration. He calls himself a “security advisor.” True, during the war in Chechnya he was the commander of a GRU special forces unit and since then has been heavily involved in the activities of Russian military intelligence.

Zlobina herself, played a key role in the recruitment of Marsalek, repeatedly helped Petlinsky. She contributed to “establishing contact” with persons in whom the Russian intelligence services are interested. The Insider's investigators have uncovered at least one similar case.

Back to Marsalek's escape. Wirecard AG June 25, 2020 declared bankruptcy. This was due to the fact that almost 2 billion euros disappeared from her accounts. True, there is a suspicion that these funds were never in the account.

By coincidence – in fact, no – a few days before Then Marsalek disappears. A private plane for him is organized by one of Petlinsky’s business partners. Also, former agent Weiss organizes a couple of pilots who can be trusted. Interestingly, Marsalek, in order to confuse his tracks, bribes Philippine immigration officials. He does this so that they make a record of Marsalek’s supposed arrival in the country.

But the plane with Marsalek landed not in the Philippines, but in Belarus on the night of June 20th. After that, he set off by car in the direction of Moscow. The corresponding transfer was organized for him by an official who dealt with relations between Russia and Libya.

Used several different passports

And after a few weeks Marsalek was issued a new passport. According to the document, his name will be Konstantin Bayazov. Investigators noticed that a person with the same name and date listed on the new passport actually exists. True, it is said about a priest who serves in a small church in the Lipetsk region. Moreover, Marsalek’s photo was pasted into Bayazov’s passport file. They did this because the men have a certain external similarity. Particularly after Marsalek grew his beard.

Marsalek top right in Bayazov's passport file/Photo by The Insider

The investigators sought to get a comment from Bayazov. In response to this, he stated: “You understand that I cannot talk about this.”

And here is Konstantin Bayazov himself/Photo The Insider

< p>Already on September 5, Petlinsky’s assistant and FSB employee Evgeniya Kurochkina picked up Marsalek’s new documents in Moscow. She rented a minibus and, along with his things, went to the Crimean peninsula. The billionaire himself flew away on a private jet. This is evidenced by data on the location of her mobile phone.

Passport of Konstantin Bayazov/Photo The Insider

And already on the evening of September 8, Kurochkina’s mobile phone connected to the network in Sevastopol. And on the morning of September 9, the group ordered several taxis and went to the south of Crimea, where they settled in one of the guest houses. It was there that Marsalek during registration revealed his new passport, issued in the name of Bayazov.

It’s interesting that later Marsalek already appeared in Moscow. And in two other personalities. Alexander Schmidt, which he had already used before. And also Vitaly Malin. It also talks about a priest, but from Vladimir. The latter stated that he did not know that someone was using his passport data. The man stated that in 2020 he lost his passport and made himself a new one.

And it was the data from this old and lost passport that Marsalek used when he traveled from Moscow to St. Petersburg by train. And also during medical tests. And the fact that the results of the tests that Schmidt and Malkin took are similar also confirms that these passports were used by the same person.