Man from Acton Charged with Spying for Russia

Bulgarian national sixth arrest in connection with investigation


Pretty Woman on Churchfield Road. Picture: Google Streetview

Participate

Bookmark and Share

Churchfield Road Beautician Accused of Spying for Russia

Man from Acton Arrested for Smuggling Cocaine

Man From Acton Faces Murder Charge

Nine Years in Jail for Woman Who Killed Her Mother

Five Attacks on Acton Mosques in Ten Days

Sign up for our Acton newsletter

Comment on this story on the

February 28, 2024

A 38-year-old Bulgarian national living in Acton has been charged with being part of a suspected ring of spies working for the Russian security services.

Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev was arrested earlier this month and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court this Wednesday (28 February).

Five other Bulgarians were arrested in February 2023 and charged in September with espionage offences. Those detained included 29-year-old Vanya Gaberova, also, who ran the Pretty Woman beauty salon on Churchfield Road. Ivanchev, who is described as owning a decorating business, is registered as having the same address as Gaberova.

They face trial at the Old Bailey this October after being remanded in custody .

Ivanchev faces the same charge of "conspiring to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy" after being arrested on 7 February and bailed.

As well as Gaberova, the other accused are Orlin Roussev, 46, from Great Yarmouth, Bizer Dzhambazov 43, and Katrin Ivanova, 32, of Harrow and Ivan Stoyanov, 32, of Greenford.

They are accused of surveilling people and places at the instruction of the Russians between August 2020 and February 2023. Three of the defendants - Roussev, Dzhambazov and Ivanova - were found with false passports from a number of countries after police raids in February. The security services are understood to believe they are part of a cell which was monitoring activity at RAF Northolt.

Ivanchev is also accused of working with a person named as Jan Marsalek, an Austrian nation who fled to Russia after being accused of fraud, and others unknown as well as the five other suspects.


Vanya Gaberova. Picture: Vanya Gaberova/Facebook

It is alleged surveillance was carried out on people and places targeted by Russia.

Commander Dominic Murphy, from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, said, Ivanchev was "was identified and arrested as a result of inquiries made following the previous five arrests in this investigation".

Value Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

 

Bookmark and Share