The hunt for Interpol's most wanted: Puppet-master behind UK spy ring was recruited for Putin's intelligence network by erotic model, is wanted over £1.6bn Wirecard fraud and is now hiding out pretending to be a priest
While the six members of a bungling Bulgarian spy ring convicted of passing secrets onto Russia are now facing years in jail, their puppet-master remains very much at large.
Jan Marsalek, 45, who holds eight passports, is thought to be hiding out in Russia after assuming the identity of an Orthodox priest.
However, this is just the latest twist in Marsalek's life story - which reads something like the plot of a Cold War thriller.
Marsalek was one of the world's most wanted men, even before he was uncovered as the alleged mastermind behind the UK's latest espionage ring.
The former COO of defunct German payment processor Wirecard was accused of being involved in a £1.6billion fraud when the company suddenly collapsed in 2020.
Interpol issued a warrant for his arrest, but his exact whereabouts remain unknown.
However, Marsalek's undercover life reportedly began six years earlier when he was recruited into Putin's intelligence network by an erotic model on a yacht in 2014.
The woman, who also starred as an undercover agent in a B-movie, is said to have told Marsalek she was an investor who could open up Wirecard to the Russian market.
But it was in Southwark Crown Court in September 2023, that prosecutors alleged for the first time that Marsalek was coordinating a group of spies in the UK.
Jan Marsalek, 45, (pictured) who holds eight passports, is thought to be hiding out in Russia after assuming the identity of an Orthodox priest
Natalia Zlobina (pictured), a former erotic model and B-movie actress who is said to have recruited Marsalek
Interpol issued a warrant for Marsalek's arrest, but his exact whereabouts remain unknown
For almost three years the group passed secrets to Russia, travelling across Europe to spy on enemies of the Kremlin, journalists and Ukrainian troops training at a US air base.
In that time they plotted how to kidnap their targets – even discussing how to murder them if they could not bring their victims back to Moscow alive.
And all backed up by an 'Aladdin's Cave' of sophisticated technology including a £120,000 device for intercepting mobile phone numbers, a fleet of drones and dozens of fake passports.
Today beautician Vanya Gaberova, 30, decorator Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, and lab technician Katrin Ivanova, 33, were all found guilty of conspiring to spy for Russia.
Their handler, Orlin Roussev, 46, his lieutenant, Biser Dzhambazov, 43, and Ivan Stoyanov, 32, had already pleaded guilty to charges under the Official Secrets Act.
During the three-week trial at the Old Bailey, Marsalek was described as the mastermind behind the operation based in a Norfolk guesthouse.
Operating under the pseudonym 'Rupert Ticz', he is said to have acted as a conduit between the Russian intelligence services and Roussev, as cash was paid from Wirecard into the spies' accounts.
Marsalek is now believed to be hiding in Russia as an orthodox priest under Putin's protection.
Pictured: The poster for Red Lips: Bloodlust - a B movie that Natalia Zlobina starred in
A series of photos of Marsalek show Marsalek sporting multiple different identities. In one, he wears a pair of glasses (left), while in others he has closely cropped hair
Beautician Vanya Gaberova (pictured), decorator Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, and lab technician Katrin Ivanova, 33, have been found guilty of conspiring to spy for Russia
Marsalek reportedly met Russian spy, erotic model and B-movie actor, Natalia Zlobina (pictured) in 2013
Gaberova pictured with Biser Dzhambazov, 43, who had already plead guilty to the charges under the Official Secrets act
A series of photos previously published by MailOnline show him supporting a number of different identities. In one he is seen in his former iteration as a smart business executive.
While in others he appears in a series of apparent disguises, from a bushy beard to a pair of thin glasses that present him more as an IT nerd than a member of the c-suite.
But how did Marsalek become both the wanted man at the centre of a dramatic collapse of a $28 billion listed company and an alleged Kremlin agent.
According to a joint investigation by The Insider, Der Spiegel, ZDF and Der Standard, Marsalek was recruited by the GRU, Russia's intelligence service, on a yacht in 2014.
The investigation, published by the Insider on March 1 last year, was led by Roman Dobrokotov and Christo Grozev, two of the journalists targeted by the spy-ring.
Marsalek and Roussev discussed burning Mr Dobrokotov alive in the street and plotted to kidnap him and Mr Grozev.
The investigation suggests Marsalek met Russian spy, erotic model and B-movie actor, Natalia Zlobina in 2013.
She told Marsalek she was an investor who could open up Wirecard to the Russian market.
A year later on July 6, 2014, Marsalek is said to have met his GRU handler, an agent known introduced to him as 'Stas'.
The Austrian is one of the world's most wanted men and subjected to an Interpol Red Notice
Roussev lived in this guesthouse in the seaside town of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk
Fellow suspected spies (L-R) Orlin Roussev, 45, Katrin Ivanova, 31 and Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, were charged on February 11, 2023
Sophisticated technology including rocks containing hidden cameras and a £120,000 device for intercepting mobile phone numbers was found at an address in Great Yarmouth
A fake Belgian passport in the name of Alexandre Schmidt, with a photograph of Jan Marsalek
Marsalek met Stanislav (Stas) Petlinsky on a Greek-flagged yacht called 'Poseidon III' just off the coast of Nice on Zlobina's 30th birthday.
Petlinsky had been a supervising officer in the GRU Spetsnaz in the 90s and fought in Chechnya and allegedly spent the evening regailing Marsalek with his exploits.
Interviewed by the Insider, Petlinsky confirmed meeting Marsalek and described him as a 'beautiful mind' and 'a bit autistic' but insisted that he was play acting as a spy.
Defence lawyers in the spy-ring case also dismissed conversations between Marsalek and Roussev as 'a lot of talk' as no kidnappings or killings ever took place.
Defending Ivanova, Rupert Bowers said: 'Again there's chat about it, there's talk about it but what doesn't appear to happen along with there being no demonstration, there are no busses with banners on driving past the Kazak embassy - it doesn't actually happen.
'100 litres of blood whether it's diluted or not is not sprayed all over the Kazakhstan embassy - a lot of talk about it but it doesn't happen.'
Der Spiegel suggests that Petlinsky boasted about handing Marsalek off to the GRU after their meeting on the Yacht in Nice.
They also reported that friends of Marsalek say the Wirecard fraudster's life can be divided in two halves: 'before Stas' and 'after Stas.'.
The Austrian 'whiz kid' continued to work for Wirecard after being picked up by Russian intelligence services until he disappeared during an audit of the company in 2020.
In June 2020, Wirecard could not locate £1.6 billion in assets which it claimed were being held somewhere in the world.
Marsalek was immediately suspected, and that evening met a friend at a pizza restaurant in Munich.
Katrin Ivanova (pictured) was found guilty of being part of the network of spies who passed information onto the Russian state
Ivan Stoyanov, 32, pleaded guilty to the charges under the Official Secrets Act
The next day, he was driven over the border to Vienna before taking a private jet to Minsk and then on to Russia. It would be the last time Marsalek would ever travel under his own name.
Wirecard later admitted it had been the centre of an 'elaborate and sophisticated fraud'.
And Marsalek, along with the rest of Wirecard's executive team, were dismissed on June 18, 2020.
It is believed that he is still in Russia and has assumed the identity of Father Konstantin Baiazov an Orthodox priest.
A 'red notice' was issued by Interpol for his arrest in 2020 and he remains one of Europe's most wanted men.
This of course prompted the inevitable question - who exactly was Jan Marsalek?
Born in Vienna on March 15, 1980, Marsalek founded an e-commerce software company aged 19, and was recruited by Wirecard a year later for his technical know-how.
He almost brought down Wirecard as soon as he arrived after an 'accident' that saw him send all the incoming traffic through his own computer rather than the company servers.
While little else is known about his early life, one family connection stands out.
His grandfather, Hans, was an anti-Nazi resistance fighter turned suspected Soviet spy, the FT reported earlier this year.
Orlin Roussev, 46, was accused of being part of the ring. Roussev pled guilty at an earlier date
The jury was shown a £120,000 'IMSI grabber' - a black metal box, the size of a large shoe box, capable of capturing mobile phone numbers from a nearby area
In the post-war period he was accused of overseeing the kidnap of at least four people who were then smuggled back to Russia.
Even at the height of Wirecard's success, Marsalek Jr made little secret of his admiration of Russia.
In Munich, he decorated his office with a collection of ushanka military hats and a set of Russian dolls.
He rented a mansion across the street from the Russian consulate, where he hosted parties with spies, and was a member of the Austrian-Russian Friendship Society.
But his connections went beyond a harmless appreciation for Russian culture.
In 2016, he helped arranged a deployment of Russian fighters to Libya after the death of Colonel Gaddafi.
Then, in autumn 2018 - several months after the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury - he invited a journalist to lunch and showed him the chemical formula for Novichok, which he said he had got from 'friends'.
Marsalek appeared to make the most of his shady connections in his attempts to suppress Wirecard's detractors.
Marsalek is now accused of playing a key role in a two and a half year Russian spying campaign in Britain.
The former businessman is said to have acted as a 'tasker' for five Bulgarians - three men and two women - who carried out surveillance activity on behalf of the Russian state.
While all of the ring have now either pleaded guilty or been convicted of spying, the hunt for Marsalek continues.
The spy ring and their Moscow boss
The spy handler, Jan Marsalek, 44
A fugitive businessman hiding out in Moscow, Jan Marsalek directed operations via 80,000 Telegram messages he exchanged with Orlin Roussev.
One of Interpol's most wanted men, the 44-year-old former executive at German tech firm Wirecard has been on the run since the company collapsed in 2020 amid an alleged £1.6bn fraud.
The grandson of a Soviet spy, Marsalek is thought to have first been brought into Russian intelligence by former GRU officer Stanislav Petlinsky after the pair met on a yacht at his girlfriend's birthday party in Nice, France, in 2014.
He is understood to have received instructions directly from Russian intelligence at the heart of the Kremlin.
Fugitive businessman Jan Marsalek (pictured in his passport photo) was the financer of the operations
'Q Branch', Orlin Roussev, 46
Orlin Roussev, 46, ran operations from a guesthouse in Great Yarmouth bought for £220,000 in 2021.
He referred to himself as 'Q Branch' because of his skills building spy gadgets, and thousands of pieces of sophisticated equipment, as well as forged identity documents, were found at his home.
Among them were homemade devices including a camera hidden in a rock, a Coca-Cola bottle containing another concealed camera and a £120,000 IMSI grabber which can intercept mobile phone information.
Roussev received orders directly from Marsalek along with hundreds of thousands of pounds to finance operations.
He had a telecommunications background and moved to Britain in 2009.
Orlin Roussev, 46, (pictured) ran operations from a guesthouse in Great Yarmouth bought for £220,000 in 2021
The adulterous middle-manager, Biser Dzhambazov, 43
Biser Dzhambazov was in charge of recruiting and directing the spies on the ground, receiving orders directly from Roussev.
The 43-year-old moved to the UK with his long-term girlfriend Katrin Ivanova, 33, but began an affair with Vanya Gaberova after recruiting her to the spy ring in 2021.
To explain his long absences to his mistress, he told her he had cancer and sent her photos of himself with 'bandages' made of toilet paper wrapped round his head.
When police carried out a series of raids to round up the spies in February 2023 they found Dzhambazov and Gaberova naked in bed together.
Bulgarian national Dzhambazov, 43, (pictured) previously admitted to spying in the UK on behalf of Russia
Scorned girlfriend / chief minion, Ivanova, 33
Katrin Ivanova was Dzhambazov's long-term partner, having first started dating in Bulgaria when she was 17 and he was 27.
She was referred to by Roussev and Marsalek as 'chief minion' and one half of the 'brunette twins' with Gaberova.
Ivanova stalked journalist Christo Grozev and Russian dissident Roman Dobrokhotov on international flights, covertly filming them after the spies successfully accessed booking systems to place her near the targets.
She learned of Dzhambazov's affair with Gaberova from a police statement after she was arrested.
Katrin Ivanova was Dzhambazov's long-term partner, having first started dating in Bulgaria when she was 17 and he was 27
The Muscle, Ivan Stoyanov, 33
Ivan Stoyanov is a mixed martial arts fanatic from Greenford, west London, nicknamed 'The Rock.
He met Dzhambazov and Ivanova through working at the same laboratory.
The 'muscle' of the operation, Roussev described Stoyanov, who grew up in a tower block in Bulgaria's capital, as someone who 'completed the police academy in Sofia and is former European MMA [mixed martial arts] champion.'
A video of Stoyanov's bruising 2015 heavyweight knockout victory over a fighter named Josh Roosevelt Jones remains on YouTube.
Ivan Stoyanov (pictured) was a mixed martial arts fanatic from Greenford, west London, nicknamed 'The Rock
Queen of the Lashes, Vanya Gaberova, 30
Vanya Gaberova ran a beauty parlour in Acton, west London, opened through a loan taken out by ex-boyfriend Tihomir Ivanchev.
The multi-award winning beautician, known as 'Queen of the Lashes,' was brought into the spy ring after meeting Dzhambazov at a Bulgarian polling station in London in 2021.
She recruited Ivanchev before leaving him to have an illicit affair with Dzhambazov.
Described as a 'true sexy bitch' by her spy bosses, Gaberova was intended to carry out 'honeytrap' plots and was ordered to send a Facebook request to journalist Christo Grozev before attempting to seduce him.
Vanya Gaberova (pictured in her custody photo) ran a beauty parlour in Acton, west London, opened through a loan taken out by ex-boyfriend Tihomir Ivanchev
The swimmer, Tihomir Ivanchev, 39
Recruited into the ring by his then-girlfriend Vanya Gaberova, Tihomir Ivanchev had been a promising open water swimmer in his native Bulgaria before abandoning the sport and moving to London in 2012.
A painter and decorator who worked seven days a week, Ivanchev said he was told the foreign spying trips would be 'more like paid holidays,' and went to visit the zoo in Vienna when he was tasked with following journalist Christo Grozev.
Ivanchev was the last to be arrested and was very cooperative with police. His barrister told his trial that during questioning he 'sung like Justin Bieber, like a canary.'
Tihomir Ivanchev (pictured) was the last to be arrested and was very cooperative with police
