Revealed: The ‘party animal Kremlin spy’ and her ‘agent’ partner who used a dating site seeking ‘friendship and communication’ of men and women – as they are charged over working for Russian intelligence services
- All three charged over the alleged documents offences are Bulgarian nationals
A ‘party animal Kremlin spy’ and her ‘agent’ partner who used dating sites seeking ‘friendship’ from both men and women have been charged in a major national security investigation.
Two pictures show alleged Russian spy Katrin Ivanova, 32, dancing away at a popular Bulgarian restaurant in Palmers Green, north London.
Meanwhile, her ‘life partner’ and suspected Russian agent Biser Dzhambazov, 41, who was a student at London Metropolitan University, advertised on a Russian dating site saying he was interested in both men and women.
Previously it was revealed that both of them lived in London suburbia for a decade, held down normal jobs and delighted their neighbours by bringing them ‘cakes and pies’.
Dzhambazov, who worked as a hospital driver and Ivanova, a lab assistant with a private healthcare company, were described by neighbours as a normal couple living in Harrow, north London.
Alleged Russian spy Katrin Ivanova, 32, (pictured right) can be seen at a popular Bulgarian restaurant in London in 2015 alongside an unidentified blonde woman
Ivanova (far right) can be seen at another restaurant known as Unikat-2 three years later
Katrin Ivanova, 31, (left) and Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, (right) lived in Harrow, north London
But the pair and a third man, Orlin Roussev, 45, from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, now stand accused of working for the Russian secret services. They are charged with possessing identity documents despite knowing they were fake.
Dzhambazov and Ivanova ran a community organisation providing services to Bulgarians, including familiarising them with the ‘culture and norms of British society’. Bulgarian state documents also list them as working for electoral commissions in London which help expats to vote in Bulgarian elections.
The pair appeared alongside Roussev at the Old Bailey on July 31. A hearing for Ivanova was held at the Old Bailey today. They have yet to enter pleas to the charges and are remanded in custody.
According to the Met, five people were arrested under the National Secrets Act in February and three of those were later charged under Section 4 of the Identity Documents Act 2010.
Orlin Roussev, 45, of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk claims to have previously worked as an adviser to the Bulgarian Energy Ministry
These documents allegedly included passports and identity cards for the UK, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, and the Czech Republic.
The investigation is being led by the Metropolitan Police’s Terrorism Command, Reuters reports.
Roussev is said to have moved to the UK in 2009, originally spending three years as a technician in the financial services industry.
According to LinkedIn, he claims to have owned a business involved in signals intelligence, which involves the interception of communications or electronic signals.
He also says he has acted as an adviser to the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy.
Neighbours of Dzhambazov and Ivanova told the BBC the two were a couple, with Dzhambazov working as a hospital driver and Ivanova as a lab assistant for a health company.
They added the couple seemed normal and had previously even brought them cakes. Dzhambazov’s Facebook account shows he was a fan of British rock group Queen.
The pair moved to the UK ten years ago and have previously worked in electoral commissions in London, which allow Bulgarian nationals living abroad to vote in Bulgarian elections.
According to Companies House, Dzhambazov has also had his own business named B.I Business Investment Ltd since 2016.
The owner of the flat they rented told MailOnline she had no idea her tenants were at the centre of a national security investigation and that they always paid their rent on time.
Ivanova (circled) can be seen holding hands in a party circle at the Bulgarian restaurant in 2015
Ivanova and her partner ran a community organisation providing services to Bulgarian people, including familiarising them with the ‘culture and norms of British society’
Dzhambazov and Ivanova have been held in custody and are suspected of working for Russia
Sonal Thakrar said Bulgarian couple Bizer Dzhambazov and Katrin Ivanova had lived at the on bedroom property in Harrow, north London, for five years.
She got into the flat when neighbours in the modern block in Harrow Weald first told her that police officers were inside searching – and found the place full of alcohol.
She said: ‘I was so shocked. It was more like a pub there was so much alcohol, There were dozens of bottles of whiskey and gin. I know people like to have a drink, but I have never see so many bottle of alcohol around the place.
‘It was not very homely and I did not get the impression it was a nice place.’
She added that police had not told them about the couple’s arrest on suspicion of spying for Russia: ‘We have been kept completely in the dark. All we knew was that police had been to the flat, and they had moved out.’
She said the couple’s references were checked out by the managing agents and they paid their rent on time each month.
‘We were told they were a Polish couple, but I never spoke to them or went to the flat while they were there. That was the job of the managing agents.
‘We never had any trouble and the main thing was that they paid the rent on time.’
Recalling her visit to the flat last March, Sonal said: ‘There were no photos of family or anyone around. It was very bare and I would not describe it has homely.’
Neighbours witnessed police officers searching their house for at least a week around the time of their detention.
Neighbour Mori Kalay, who lives in the same block of flats as the couple, told Mail Online they were’ ‘unremarkable’ and did not go out of their way to talk to others in the flats.
He lived on the second floor of the block with the couple’s flat on the first floor.
He said: ‘I can’t say that I knew them. I did not see them very often and we did not talk.
‘The only clue we had something was going on was earlier this year when there were police inside and outside the flats.
‘When I asked what was going on I was told I did not need to know and to go back into my flat.’
All three defendants are scheduled to go on trial in January at the Old Bailey. They have yet to enter pleas to the charges.
The police declined to comment on whether they were suspected of being Russian spies.
Local businesses owners were left shocked by the news that Dzhambazov and Ivanova had been arrested on the charges. Café owner Simon Corsini, 50, said: ‘They would always have our super breakfast with four slice of bread. The man would come in here quite often and also ask for hash browns.
‘It is not something that you would expect, and it is quite a shock. I’ve just come back from holiday in the south of France and it is not something you expect to hear.
‘I can’t say that I am worried. There have been three stabbings in Harrow and that worries me more.’
He remembers plain clothes police officers sitting in the café for up to two weeks while others were parked opposite the block of flats where the couple lived.
‘The told us they were police and would be here for quite a while. They were not wearing uniforms and we wondered what was going on.’
Dzhambazov and Ivanova ran a community organisation providing services to Bulgarians. The group was called Bulgarian Social Platform and this is believed to be their offices
A photo of the offices of Bulgarian Social Platform, which Dzhambazov and Ivanova ran
Ivanova appearing in a video promoting the services offered by the community group she ran with her partner
The third person charged, Roussev, is thought to have been arrested at a run down seaside guest house which is owned by a Bulgarian businesswoman.
Neighbours of the three star Haydee Hotel in Princes Road, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, recalled a scenes of crime tent being erected on the doorstep after Roussev was seized.
Groups of masked men dressed in black were seen searching the address for nearly two days, leading to local residents to assume that a crime had taken place.
Local residents said they had not seen anyone come in or out of the hotel for months, and did not believe it had been open for business since at least last year.
There was today no reply at the door of the budget guest house which has eight rooms and is just 100 yards away from Great Yarmouth seafront.
The hotel, which is in a Victorian terrace and painted white and blue, was sold on September 16, 2021, for £220,000 to Irina Paravanova, 47, according to Land Registry records.
Companies House records confirm that Ms Parvanoa is a Bulgarian national and give the hotel’s address at 27 Princes Road, Great Yarmouth, as the registered office of her business FTTH Technologies.
The company’s description on Companies House, states that its nature of business is “other human health activities”.
But an old website listing giving the company’s previous registered address in Mayfair states that it is a “provider of IT precision services for medicine, robotics and the IT industry.”
Moira Scott who is the bar manager at the family-owned Prom Hotel opposite the Haydee said she could recall security personnel descending on the hotel in February.
She said: “I came to work at about 9am and I was opening up as I was first one in when I thought, ‘What is going on over the road?’
“There was a big scenes of crime tent outside the door of the Haydee and there were a load of plain police vans with blacked out windows.
“My first reaction was that someone had been murdered. There was a lot of men dressed in black clothes with their faces covered who were coming and going.
“They had balaclavas on as if they didn’t want anyone to recognise them which I thought was a bit weird. I couldn’t see their faces.
“I was going to ask them what was going on, but they didn’t look very approachable. I went inside and kept looking out of the window.
“At one stage a group of about six of the men walked over towards the seafront, and I wondered what they were doing.
“I looked on the local news to see what was going on, but there was nothing about it. I remember asking customers if they knew what was happening, but nobody did.
“The tent was still here the next day with guys going in and out, but by the third day it was gone, so it must have been there a day and a half or so.
“I used to know who owned the hotel 20-years-ago, but it has changed hands since then.
“I used to see people coming and going from there, but I must admit I haven’t seen anyone at the building for a long time.”
Dzhambazov Ivanova were both registered at the same address in Harrow, north London
Roussev lived in his block of apartments in the seaside town of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk
Ivanova regularly appeared in Facebook photos promoting its services, which included teaching Bulgarians about the ‘culture and norms of British society’
Mrs Scott, a mother-of-three with two grandchildren, did not recognise Roussev when shown his picture.
She said: “We get a lot of people coming in. I suppose he could have come in for a coffee, but I wouldn’t have remembered him.”
Princes Road has a number of guest houses and hotels, with some providing rooms for holidaymakers and others housing long term tenants.
Mrs Scott said: “It used to be just traditional hotels here, but the area has changed quite a bit over the years.
“I don’t want to run down the road, but it is not just traditional guest houses any more.”
Kelly Flynn, 39, who is homeless and was today helping a friend check into a hotel in the road, said: “I can remember the police tent going up outside the hotel.
“But I didn’t really think anything of it as it is not an unusual sight in Great Yarmouth. I don’t recognise the guy who was arrested.
“But there was a Russian living a couple of doors down who apparently had PTSD after being in the Russian army.
“He nicked my mobile phone and the police got it back for me, but I didn’t want to press charges. He just needed help.”
Aman Khanna, general manager of the Waverley Hotel in Princes Road, said: “Every second house in the road here is a guest house.
“It is not unusual for crimes to happen at some of the places. Sometimes you have not too peaceful people staying here and then it becomes disturbing.
“The Haydee hotel has been there for a long time, but I have not really seen guests going in or out very much.”
Companies House records confirm that Irina Paravanova is the sole director of FTTH Technologies.
The records confirm that the company changed its registered office address on November 29, 2021, from 30 Spirit Quay London E1W 2UT to 27 Princes Road Great Yarmouth NR30 2DG.
The company which is at least 75 per cent owned by Ms Paravanova was founded by her on November 28, 2011. She is the sole director.
When it was incorporated, the company had its registered address as a care of address at 26 York Street, Mayfair, which is home to a number of businesses.
Its latest accounts filed in January this year for the period ending in April last year state that it had current assets of £13,315 with liabilities to creditors totalling £69,626 in the next year, meaning it had net liabilities of £55,829.
Britain has been sharpening its focus on external security threats and last month it passed a new national security law, aiming to deter espionage and foreign interference with updated tools and criminal provisions.
The government labeled Russia ‘the most acute threat’ to its security when the law was passed.
Police have charged three Russians, who they say are GRU military intelligence officers, with the 2018 attempt to murder former double agent Sergei Skripal with the military-grade nerve agent Novichok. Two were charged in 2018 and the third in 2021.
Last year, Britain’s domestic spy chief said more than 400 suspected Russian spies had been expelled from Europe.
Britain has been one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine since the Russian invasion last year and has imposed a range of sanctions on Russian officials and oligarchs.
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