Acton man among group of six jailed for spying for Russia

Images: Clockwise from top left: Orlin Roussev, Katrin Ivanova, Ivan Stoyanov, Biser Dzhambazov, Vanya Gaberova and Tihomir Ivanchev

Espionage “on an industrial scale”

A man from Acton is among a group of six people jailed for spying for Russia.

The group, all Bulgarians living in the UK, have been jailed for a combined total of more than 50 years for being part of a spying operation across Europe.

Following a three-month trial at the Old Bailey, two women and a man were found guilty of conspiring to obtain information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to Russia. Three other men pleaded guilty to Official Secrets Act charges before the trial started.

The court heard the spies were well paid for their services and had conducted operations in the UK, Austria, Spain, Germany and Montenegro.

Counter terrorism police surveillance operations discovered Orlin Roussev was directing the group, from detailed analysis of more than 200,000 digital messages and hundreds of items seized from his home address.

Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, described the group’s activities as “espionage on an industrial scale.”

The group posed a serious threat to the safety and interests of the UK, as well as targets across Europe, he said.

State espionage an “increasing threat”

“This case is a clear example of the increasing amount of state threat casework we are dealing with in the UK. It also highlights a relatively new phenomenon whereby espionage is being ‘outsourced’ by certain states,” said Commander Murphy.

The Metropolitan Police Counter terrorism Command carried out a co-ordinated series of raids on 8 February 2023 in which they seized hundreds of items and made arrests.

They found a “treasure trove” of gadgets – including sophisticated spying equipment such as listening devices, concealed cameras and a fake ID card printer – at a 33-room former hotel belonging to Roussev.

One of the hidden cameras was in a Minion cuddly toy. The court heard the spy ring referred to themselves as the “minions”, inspired by the yellow capsule shaped creatures who work for the villain Gru in the Despicable Me children’s films.

The group referred to GRU, the Russian military intelligence service, in Telegram messages.

Investigative journalists and Russia’s political opponents targeted

The investigation team identified six core spying ‘plots’ the group were involved in. This included activity that targeted two investigative journalists who were seen as reporting stories contrary to the interests of the Russian state, by exposing the nerve agent attacks on Russian dissidents Alexei Navalny and Sergei Skripal.

In sentencing, Judge Nicholas Hilliard said:

“Targeting journalists… undermines freedom of the press, one of our core democratic values.”

The group targeted Russian dissidents, a former senior Kazakh politician who lived in the UK, and carried out surveillance at a US military site in Germany, where they believed Ukrainian soldiers were being trained.

Leaders both sentenced to more than ten years in jail

Officers found that Roussev (46) of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, was directing the group’s activity and Bizer Maksimov Dzhambazov (43) of Harrow, north London, was effectively the second in command.

The other four were involved in the execution of various espionage and surveillance activities across the UK and Europe in relation to the six plots identified by detectives.

They are Katrin Nikolayeva Ivanova (33) of Harrow; Ivan Iliev Stoyanov (33) of Greenford; Vanya Nikolaveva Gaberova (30) of Euston; and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev (39) of Acton.

Roussev was sentenced to ten years and eight months’ imprisonment; Dzhambazov – ten years and two months; Ivanova – nine years and eight months; Stoyanov – five years and three weeks; Gaberova – six years, eight months and three weeks; Ivanchev – eight years’ imprisonment.

Ivanova, Gaberova and Ivanchev were all found guilty on 7 March of conspiracy to spy, contrary to Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

Roussev and Dzhambazov pleaded guilty to the same offence before the trial started. .

Stoyanov pleaded guilty before the trial to spying, contrary to section 1(1)(c) of the Official Secrets Act 1911.

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