Three Bulgarians have been found guilty of participating in one of the “largest and most complex” Russian spy operations uncovered on UK soil.
Vanya Gaberova, 30, Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, and Katrin Ivanova, 33, have been found guilty at the Old Bailey.
The trip, dubbed "The Minions", engaged in a series of surveillance and intelligence operations over three years, putting lives and national security at risk.
Instead of the cartoon evil mastermind Gru, the defendants acted as spies working for the Russian intelligence service - also known as GRU.
Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev being interviewed by police
PA
Tihomir Ivanchev, Vanya Gaberova and Katrin Ivanova
PA
They were directed by alleged Russian agent Jan Marsalek, 44, an Austrian businessman wanted by Interpol after the collapse of German payment processing firm Wirecard.
Marsalek acted as a go-between for Russian intelligence and ringleader Orlin Roussev, 47, in Great Yarmouth who received more than 200,000 euros (over £165,600) to fund the spying activities.
He deployed the Minions with second-in-command Biser Dzhambazov, 43, who was in a love triangle with two of the team – his partner Ivanova and beautician Gaberova, jurors heard.
A jury deliberated for more than 32 hours to find Ivanova, of Harrow, Gaberova, of Euston, and Ivanchev, of Acton, guilty on Friday of plotting to spy for an enemy state. Ivanova was also convicted of having a stash of falseidentity documents "with improper intention”, which Roussev and Dzhambazov admitted along with the spy plot.
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The arrest of spy chief Orlin Roussev in Great Yarmouth
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Met counter-terrorism chief Commander Dominic Murphy told PA news agency: "This was industrial-scale espionage on behalf of Russia.
"This is one of the largest and most complex examples of a group working for a foreign state to conduct intelligence surveillance operations here in the UK so it is a significant case and I am very proud of the investigation team and the success they have had.
"Really sophisticated devices – the sort of thing you would really expect to see in a spy novel – were found here, in Great Yarmouth and London.
"I have never seen anything like this in my more than 20 years in counter-terrorism. It was an extremely sophisticated operation.
"Reading some of the messages and content on the devices you might be tempted to think this is not a serious threat, but behind those nicknames was an extremely sophisticated intelligence-gathering operation that posed a threat to national security and individuals, including journalists."
The court had heard how journalist Christo Grozev was targeted after he exposed Russian links to the Novichok poisoning and the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane in July 2014.
He was followed from Vienna to a conference in Valencia in Spain, with Ivanova able to get close enough on the plane to record the PIN number on his phone with a camera on the strap of her bag after the spies acquired his flight.
Gaberova befriended the 54-year-old on Facebook and took covert pictures of Grozev having breakfast at the Palace Hotel with Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins.
Roussev discussed with Marsalek deploying “true sexy B****” Gaberova as a honeytrap against Grozev, saying: "We can definitely record something for Pornhub too. That girl is red hot, she is a swinger too."
Marsalek discussed kidnapping another investigative journalist, Roman Dobrokhotov, by boat, opining: "A successful operation on British ground would be amazing after the f**** up Skripal stuff."
Head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command Commander Dominic Murphy vowed never to take his “eye off the ball” as he praised his team’s success.
He told reporters: "This is one of the largest and most complex examples of a group working for a foreign state to conduct intelligence surveillance operations here in the UK so it is a very significant case and I am very proud of the investigation team and the success they have had.
"This investigation uncovered spying on behalf of the Russian state on an industrial case, in this case committed by a group of Bulgarians contracted by an individual to conduct that spying on behalf of Russia.
"As the UK becomes a more hostile environment as a result of our work we will see them increasingly use proxies to conduct their activities."
