LONDON, United Kingdom: British police Tuesday charged a sixth Bulgarian national as part of an investigation into alleged espionage offenses linked to the Russian state.
Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 37, hailing from west London, was arrested on Feb 7 as part of an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command.
He was remanded in custody to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court today (Wednesday).
Ivanchev is charged with “conspiring to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state.”
Five people have already been charged in the same investigation and are expected to face a four-month trial starting in October.
The accused are alleged to have “conspired together and with Jan Marsalek, and others unknown, to obtain, collect, record, publish or communicate documents or information” for Russia.
Marsalek is the former Austrian chief operating officer of payments company Wirecard, who has become a wanted man in Germany on fraud charges.
