Austria: Why the traces in the Wirecard scandal also lead to Vienna

Wirecard represents what is probably the biggest scandal in German economic history.

Because the balance sheets of the supposed model company from Munich, which was temporarily more valuable than Deutsche Bank, were fake.

After the company collapsed in June 2020, the trial against ex-boss Markus Braun and two former top managers has now begun.

Braun was at the head of the German company, as was his partner Jan Marsalek - two men from Austria.

How much did Braun know about the scam at his home?

Did Marsalek, who has been on the run since Wirecard collapsed, actually work for the Russian secret service?

There are still many open questions in the case.

Ironically, the key figure - Marsalek - is missing from the court hearing.

For his escape, he apparently used a private jet that took off from an airport near Vienna.

There are other traces of this scandal that lead back to Austria.

Wirecard – an Austrian thriller?

The two ex-board members Braun and Marsalek were well connected in Austria's politics and economy, maintained contacts with the ÖVP under Sebastian Kurz and the right-wing populist FPÖ.

What were these networks for?

What role did Marsalek's connections to the Austrian secret service play?

What information was exchanged?

In this Inside Austria series, we look at the Austrian side of the Wirecard scandal.

In the first episode we start with the court case against Markus Braun and look at the most important open questions in the fraud case.

In the weekly podcast “Inside Austria”, SPIEGEL and STANDARD look together at the big and small scandals in Austria.

Together with journalists from both editorial offices, we reconstruct cases and events that move the country.

We look into political abysses, follow the investigations into the cause of Sebastian Kurz and his ÖVP.

And inform about an important Austrian topic of the week.