Austrian ex-intelligence officer found guilty of Russia spying charges

Former intelligence official Egisto Ott has been found guilty of spying for Russia, in what has been dubbed Austria's biggest spy trial in years.A jury in Vienna found Ott, 63, guilty of having handed over information to Russian intelligence officers and to Jan Marsalek, the fugitive executive of collapsed German payments firm Wirecard.Ott, who denies the charges, was sentenced to four years and one month in prison. His lawyer has appealed against the verdict.The spy scandal has revived fears that Austria remains a hotbed of Russian espionage activity.In addition to spying, Ott was found guilty of misuse of office, bribery, aggravated fraud and breach of trust.The court heard how he had supported "a secret intelligence service of the Russian Federation to the detriment of the Austria" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="130954" data-entity-type="location">Republic of Austria" by collecting secret facts and a large amount of personal data from police databases from 2015 to 2020.Prosecutors said Ott gave this information to Marsalek and unknown representatives of the Russian Intelligence Service, and received payment in return.Marsalek, who is also an Austrian citizen, is wanted by German police for alleged fraud and is currently believed to be in the Russian capital, Moscow, having fled via Austria in 2020.