Espionage (3): How the system "Nina" was exposed

The Ukrainian billionaire Dmitry Firtash has been fighting against extradition to US justice in Austria since March 2014. His team also hired the information broker Christina Wilkening from Berlin. It was supposed to mark the end of “Nina’s” glamorous career. Addendum reveals how the Firtash case turned into a spy thriller - and who profited from the gas oligarch. Third part of the investigation by ADDENDUM in the intelligence sector.

It is a manageable restaurant on a street corner behind the Berlin S-Bahn station Lichterfelde. Traditional cuisine and timeless ambiance are offered. In the warm season, there are also some outdoor tables. And that's where, on May 23, 2014, two special guests took their seats.

One is a chief inspector at the State Criminal Police Office of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The other works just one street away at the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) in Berlin. There, he specializes in Russia and the Russian mafia. The name of the intelligence officer remains a secret. His conversation partner, the inspector, only uses a code name: “Yevgeny”.

The Inspector and the Agent

What leads Chief Inspector Heinz-Peter Hahndorf, who is actually responsible for extremism investigations, to meet with a BND expert on the Russian mafia? The answer to that question will have to wait a bit on that day in May 2014.

Agent “Yevgeny” and Inspector Hahndorf feel they are being listened in on. A man at the next table seems suspicious. American intelligence? They prefer not to talk about the sensitive topic that is the reason for the meeting. The two men leave the restaurant and go - separately - to a new meeting point. There, they feel safe. And there, they speak plainly: about Dmitry Firtash.

From Firefighter to Oligarch

Firtash, 53, is a man with a very special life story. The billionaire was nothing less than the link between Russia and Ukraine in the sensitive area of gas trade for years. This brought him a lot of money, but also bitter enemies. The rapid rise of the former trainee locomotive driver and later firefighter took place in the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. A chaotic time of upheaval and change which he knew how to exploit to his advantage.

With increasing economic influence, the gas billionaire also began to meddle behind the scenes in the politics of his country. Moreover, the Ukrainian has been active in Austria for at least 15 years. No other oligarch from Eastern Europe is as well-connected in this country as Dmitry Firtash. But more on that later.

Prefer Vienna to Chicago

In Berlin, Inspector Hahndorf and BND employee “Yevgeny” are in the midst of an exciting exchange of thoughts about Firtash. The Ukrainian is stuck in Austria and is trying to avoid extradition to the US, which is demanded against him. There is an indictment against him in a Chicago court. It concerns the accusation of bribery in connection with a once planned raw materials project in India. Firtash denies the allegations.
In mid-March 2014, he was arrested on the streets of Vienna based on a US warrant. However, he was released on bail of €125 million until it was clarified whether the extradition was lawful.

Immediately after the arrest, the billionaire and a close circle of confidants began to take countermeasures. Several lawyers and two PR agencies were hired. In the extended environment, there were also a few security consultants. And a lady was hired who has had a prominent name in the shady industry of private information gatherers for years: Christina Wilkening from Berlin. Her code name from Stasi times is “Nina”. The Firtash engagement would mean the end of her illustrious career as a private agent and would bring her and several accomplices to court.

Tips from the Intelligence Service

This is what Inspector Hahndorf doesn't know when he meets with “Yevgeny” in Berlin in May 2014. Hahndorf is one of “Nina's” people. She has been giving him money for years, and he illegally carries out person queries in the police computer. He is now on the move for her regarding Firtash. And what BND expert “Yevgeny” reveals could be valuable. The intelligence officer tells the inspector in detail about allegedly intercepted phone calls of Firtash. And he gives Hahndorf tips on how best to intervene on Firtash's behalf.

At least that's what Hahndorf later tells other people. The fact that the conversation took place is documented. The exact content, however, is known only to the two participants, of course. At this point, it doesn't actually matter anymore. The die has already been cast. The end of Christina Wilkening and her helpers is inevitable, and the “Nina” system breaks down on its biggest mission.

Fateful Email to the US Department

The end of the private agent, who - directly or indirectly - has been receiving six-figure euro fees from companies like OMV, the Vienna Insurance Group, a gambling company, and numerous other clients for years, comes with an email sent two days before the mysterious meeting in May 2014 in Berlin. Not by Hahndorf, but on his behalf by another German police officer. The latter had once spent an exchange year in the USA and is better at English than the chief inspector. As it would turn out, not good enough.

The email is addressed to a high-ranking official at the US Department of Justice. The provincial police officer from Germany wants to address Minister Eric Holder from the start. He writes:

Dear Mr. Holder,

with letter from May 12th signed by Mr. Dmitry Firtash we are authorized to contact United States authorities to declare, that Mr. Firtash is willing to hold conversation about all questions, which are of interest for the United States of America.

Following this statement of willingness to have a conversation about all issues of interest to the USA, the email offers to engage in negotiations regarding the allegations against Firtash. Hahndorf pays his police colleague €10,000 for the email. It would have far-reaching consequences.

Four for Firtash

“Nina” had insisted on a power of attorney personally signed by Firtash - that letter from May 12, 2014, mentioned in the email and attached to it. However, Firtash is said to have hesitated. Ultimately, he issued a power of attorney to a longtime close confidant to contact the US authorities, accompanied by four individuals named.

Two of them were the two German police officers associated with “Nina,” one an Austrian security consultant, and one a US lawyer. Apparently, it was thought that Christina Wilkening would know the right people to establish a good contact. But no one in the billionaire's circle of trust probably anticipated that the German police officer would simply send the power of attorney with a cover text in subpar English to the US Justice Minister.

Authorities in Turmoil

After a critical inquiry from the US Ministry to Firtash's official legal team, the advisers of the billionaire rushed to clarify who could really speak for the Ukrainian - namely his legal representatives. However, the authorities were still alarmed. When the email writer flew to Chicago - the location of the Firtash indictment - a few weeks later, the matter became uncontrollable.

Intelligence services of several countries were contacted, and the persons named on the power of attorney were thoroughly investigated. “Nina's” network, which had operated for years and reached into numerous agencies - including the Austrian BVT and the German BND - suddenly found itself in the spotlight.

Long Preliminary Investigations

Apparently, the investigators did not immediately intervene. They let Wilkening continue working for almost two more years. By early 2015, there were official preliminary investigations against the email writer, who was questioned on the Firtash matter. Obviously, they wanted to find out more about the “Nina” network. Wilkening was shadowed, her phone was tapped. This revealed what she was up to and who she was currently collaborating with.

The affair became public in April 2016. Following a legal assistance request from Germany, Austrian authorities searched the magnificent villa in Vienna-Hietzing where Firtash resides (cover image above). At the same time, there were also house searches in Germany - and the arrest of Wilkening and the inspector.

Agent Received 700,000 Euros

Firtash himself was not investigated in this case. The billionaire allegedly never met the private agent - although she is said to have insisted strongly on it. Her engagement also included consulting and information procurement regarding Eastern Europe. She is said to have provided quite useful material in this regard. It remains questionable whether Wilkening’s activities justify the proud fee of around €700,000.

Land of Profiteers

A man like Dmitry Firtash lives in a world that can be divided into two groups: profiteers who want to make money with him, and enemies. Here, representatives of the former species can mainly be found. Anyone who wants to understand the relationship between the gas billionaire and Austria's political and economic elite should look back a few years.

On July 29, 2004, a Swiss company named RosUkrEnergo AG signed several contracts with the state Ukrainian gas supplier Naftogaz. Representing the newly established Swiss gas trading company RosUkrEnergo was not a shrewd Eastern European gas trader, but Wolfgang P., who was then a board member of Raiffeisen Investment AG from Vienna:

Externally, therefore, Raiffeisen represented RosUkrEnergo. However, besides the 50 percent shareholder Gazprom, the true backers remained in the dark for a long time.

Joint owners were Firtash with 45 percent and another Ukrainian businessman named Ivan Fursin with 5 percent. The value of 45 percent in RosUkrEnergo is evident from a look at the company register: a generous dividend payout of 887 million Swiss francs was decided upon by the Swiss company on December 14, 2006. The 50 percent holding of Firtash and Fursin received half: converted €279 million.

The Banker and His Trusted Man

For almost two years, Raiffeisen kept the Ukrainian customer Firtash in the dark. Only in April 2006 were the true ownership ratios revealed. Raiffeisen banker Wolfgang P. was questioned about this in 2007 before a National Council parliamentary committee on bank affairs. He said: “from the start, we were tasked with establishing the legal, tax, and banking organization of RosUkrEnergo and maintaining it according to Western standards.”

An incidental detail: the trusted person whom Firtash's banker Wolfgang P. brought to the parliamentary committee was the law professor and defense attorney Wolfgang Brandstetter. As is widely known, he later became Minister of Justice. The extradition request against Firtash should fall into his term as minister. However, the question of extradition remains unclear to this day - even after the end of Brandstetter's term as minister.

Spindelegger on the Board Until 2021

Currently, the association exists only on paper. Spindelegger is still a member of the board. Although he has long had a new job, his association function was extended for four more years in July 2017.

Upon Addendum's request, the former Vice-Chancellor explained that the AMU is currently carrying out "none" activities: "It exclusively holds the rights to the reform agenda created in 2015 [...], which is why the association is being maintained for copyright reasons." There are no revenues from this. "The special relevance in maintaining the copyrights lies in the fact that the Ukrainian state is also developing reform proposals, and a mere copy without reference to the solutions developed by the AMU should be avoided." Spindelegger states that he does not receive any payments from the AMU.

Waiting for the ECJ

Regarding the potential extradition of Firtash to the USA, the Supreme Court of Justice (OGH) is currently awaiting a decision from the European Court of Justice in a similar case. Then, the OGH will decide whether to approve the extradition - already sanctioned - or not.

In the US, a decision has been pending for months on whether the court in Chicago is even competent in the alleged bribery case in India. A hearing took place in September 201