By Adam Cailler,John O’Sullivan,Will Stewart
Copyright dailystar
One of the world’s most wanted fugitives has been spotted on camera taking a leisurely stroll through Moscow with his girlfriend. Jan Marsalek, 45, the ex-Wirecard boss who has dodged Interpol for five years, is now closely linked to Vladimir Putin’s FSB and GRU spy services. Notorious for running a Russian espionage ring in Britain, Marsalek now boasts facial hair and new locks following a hair transplant in the fresh photograph, where he’s pictured walking hand-in-hand with his 41 year old partner, Tatiana Spiridonova – a slender, auburn-haired Russian agent. Prior to Spiridonova, his romantic interest and handler was fellow spy Natalia Zlobina, 41, a former glamour model frequently referred to as the “naked spy.” New details about Marsalek’s secret existence in Moscow have emerged through a collaborative probe by independent Russian publication The Insider and German magazine Der Spiegel, reports the Express US . “From an unremarkable three-storey house in Stremyanny Lane comes a couple,” the journalists documented. Meanwhile, the US has revealed a formidable $776 million B-21 Raider nuclear bomber, serving as a stark message to Putin. “They hold hands and chat casually, attracting no attention. “Yet they should, because this man is Jan Marsalek, one of the world’s most wanted criminals, a former top manager of German tech giant Wirecard, recruited by Russian intelligence and on the run in Moscow after a £1.6 billion hole was found in his company’s accounts.” His relationship with Spiridonova is “not only romantic but also professional.” She has “privy to many of Marsalek’s operations and even took part in them.” The runaway employs countless false identities, including masquerading as an Orthodox clergyman. One fictional persona is “Alexander Nelidov,” allegedly born in Riga in 1978 but completely fabricated. On 28 December 2024, journalists traced him journeying from Moscow to St. Petersburg using the alias Alexander Schmidt. He’s believed to hold over eight passports. Marsalek has frequently infiltrated conflict zones in Ukraine , made at least five trips to Crimea, and maintained an office close to the FSB’s notorious Lubyanka headquarters. Mobile data indicates he commutes by Moscow underground to the location almost daily. The “billionaire fraudster’s” most notorious plot involved Bulgarian agents operating in Britain, sentenced this year to over 50 years combined. For almost three years, the spy ring fed secrets to Russia , focusing on Kremlin opponents, journalists, and Ukrainian troops training at a US airbase. The mastermind, Orlin Roussev, 46, coordinated the operation from a bed and breakfast in Great Yarmouth. Reporters Christo Grozev and Roman Dobrokhotov – writers of the recent Insider investigation – were targeted for abduction by Marsalek’s organisation, but MI5 thwarted the plot. Whilst Austrian-born Marsalek remains at large, three accomplices – beautician Vanya Gaberova, 30, decorator Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, and laboratory worker Katrin Ivanova, 33 – were found guilty of espionage for Russia. Meanwhile, Roussev, 46, Biser Dzhambazov, 43, and Ivan Stoyanov, 32, have all admitted guilt under the UK’s Official Secrets Act. Marsalek, the former chief operations officer of Wirecard, fled to Russia in 2020 but is believed to have travelled abroad since then, including trips to Dubai. He remains a wanted man across Europe, including in the UK. His former flame Zlobina, originally from Uzbekistan, has a colourful past as both an actress and a one-time erotic model. She starred in the 1996 American-Russian B-movie Red Lips 2: Bloodlust, playing a spy who dispatched her targets with nerve gas. It’s reported that she introduced Marsalek to Moscow’s business and intelligence circles during a meeting on a yacht. For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters .
