Egisto O., a former Austrian intelligence officer, is accused of spying for Russia by illegally accessing personal information of Russian dissidents, defectors, and others. He allegedly acted on behalf of fugitive Jan Marsalek, with related activities including an orchestrated burglary of a targeted dissident's apartment.

Egisto O., a former officer at Austria's domestic intelligence agency BVT (now DSN), was arrested at his home in Carinthia on April 4, 2024, accused of years-long espionage for Russia. Among his targets were Russian dissidents, defectors like a former FSB officer under asylum in Montenegro, a Russian ex-banker protected in the UK, and investigative journalist Christo Grozev, known for exposing Russian intelligence operations. O. illegally queried personal data on these individuals from Austrian and international databases, often fabricating counter-terrorism justifications despite suspension from duty. Notably, in March 2021, he impersonated a police officer to obtain protected registration data on Grozev. This preceded a June 2022 break-in of Grozev’s Vienna apartment by a Marsalek-directed British-Bulgarian spy suspect, with theft of digital devices. Investigations also link O. to trafficking of secure SINA laptops and damaged ministry phones to Russian FSB via payments, including a documented 20,000 Euro transfer in November 2022. Thousands of chat messages obtained by British authorities implicate Marsalek’s network in overseeing these espionage activities. Austrian prosecutors believe they have strong evidence to prove O.’s role in espionage and equipment transfer, and his case has caused significant political and intelligence ramifications in Austria and Europe.