Austrian law enforcement officers detained former agent of the Federal Agency for the Protection of the Constitution and Combating Terrorism (BVT) Egisto Ott on suspicion of espionage in favor of Russia.
This is reported by Der Standard.
It is noted that the suspect is currently in custody in a detention center.
As the newspaper writes, Austrian law enforcement officers are investigating the case of Egisto Ott from 2017 on charges of abuse of office, secret intelligence to the detriment of Austria and breach of official secrecy. The ex-agent's arrest was preceded by information that he had passed the contents of high-ranking officials' mobile phones to Russian spies.
His former son-in-law, who is believed to have facilitated this crime, was also arrested. The residences of both detainees were searched.
According to Der Standard, Ott was an employee of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Combating Terrorism (BVT), which is currently disbanded. Before that, his name appeared in the case of the former member of the board of the payment company Wirecard Jan Marsalek, who, as noted, Ott helped in the creation of a spy cell for Russia in BVT.