Financial Times

Hot Money podcast Wirecard AG

How Wirecard’s Jan Marsalek went from fraudster to spy

The third season of our investigative podcast asks: who is the real Jan Marsalek? And what does his secret life reveal about the powerful forces he serves?

Sam Jones

Published JUN 10 2025 | Updated JUL 22 2025, 09:34

Hot Money, the award-winning podcast series from the Financial Times and Pushkin Industries, is back with a third season.

In 2020, the Financial Times exposed a €2bn fraud at Wirecard, a high-flying German fintech. Many thought that was the end of the story.

Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at But for FT reporter Sam Jones, it was just the beginning. This season on Hot Money: Agent of Chaos, Sam investigates Wirecard’s chief operating officer who vanished just as Wirecard collapsed — and who turned out to also be a Russian spy.

From an Ibizan sting operation to an attempted takeover of the Austrian intelligence service, his reporting spirals into a world of warlords, espionage and disinformation.

Cambodia rejected the allegations that the landmines were newly laid. It also downgraded its diplomatic relations with Thailand and recalled its embassy staff from Bangkok.

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https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/0833b504-02e4-4c9e-93d4-d607ae3187f5
In June, Thai PM Paetongtarn called Hun Sen, Cambodia’s influential former leader and the father of Hun Manet, in a bid to smooth the relationship. But the effort backfired after Hun Sen leaked a recording of the call, resulting in her suspension and further damage to ties between the two countries.

The feud has already resulted in political fallout in Thailand, where Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been temporarily suspended from office over her efforts to defuse hostilities.

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In the call, Paetongtarn referred to the former Cambodian leader deferentially as “uncle” and appeared to blame the Thai military for aggravating the border dispute. Critics accused her of taking a conciliatory tone that undermined Thailand’s national interests.

Paetongtarn later apologised and said her remarks were a negotiating tactic. She has since been suspended by the Thai constitutional court as it deliberates whether to remove her from office for ethical violations.