Austria Sentences Ex-Spymaster Egisto Ott to 4 Years for Aiding Russia

14 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 20

Vienna jurors convicted Egisto Ott, 63, of spying for Russia and sentenced the former Austrian intelligence officer to four years and one month in prison; his lawyer immediately appealed.
Prosecutors said Ott used police databases from 2015 to 2020 to collect secret information and personal data, then passed it to Russian intelligence and fugitive Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek for payment.
The court also found Ott guilty of misuse of office, bribery, aggravated fraud and breach of trust, including copying data from senior interior ministry officials' phones after they were recovered from the Danube.
Ott denied working for Moscow, saying he was involved in a covert operation with a Western intelligence service, but prosecutors argued he acted from financial motives and frustration at work.
The case, described as Austria's biggest spy trial in years, has renewed concern that the country remains vulnerable to Russian espionage, with Marsalek still believed to be in Moscow.

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