Russian spy ring leader jailed in UK for nearly 11 years
Orlin Roussev, 47, pleaded guilty before trial to one count of conspiracy to spy for Russia after police found thousands of messages between him and Wirecard fugitive Jan Marsalek, who directed the unit of Bulgarian nationals from overseas.
Judge Nicholas Hilliard sentenced Roussev to 10 years and eight months in prison, telling Roussev that the operations he had directed posed a serious risk to Britain's national security.
Roussev is one of six Bulgarians convicted over their roles in the team directed by Marsalek to carry out surveillance on journalists, dissidents and Ukrainian soldiers being trained at a U.S. military base in Germany.
Three of the group were found guilty in March after a trial, while Roussev, his deputy Biser Dzhambazov, 44, and a third man – Ivan Stoyanov, 33 – pleaded guilty last year.
Dzhambazov was sentenced to 10 years and two months.
Prosecutors said the unit did not work directly for Russian intelligence and were motivated mostly by money.
The Russian embassy in London has not commented on the case, though the Kremlin has always rejected such spying allegations.
Relations between Britain and Russia have plunged to post-Cold War lows since the start of the Ukraine war, with Britain accusing Russia of trying to cause "mayhem" in Europe.
Marsalek's lawyer in Germany – where he is wanted as the former chief operating officer of collapsed payments company Wirecard – previously declined to comment.
His whereabouts are unknown but he is believed to be in Russia.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
22 minutes ago
- New York Post
Russia backs off Medvedev rhetoric after Trump says he ordered nuke subs closer to Moscow: ‘There can be no winner in a nuclear war'
WASHINGTON — The Kremlin tried Monday to defuse tensions caused by remarks from one of Russia's top officials that led President Trump to shift two nuclear submarines closer to Moscow. 'As you know, Russia holds a responsible position. President Putin's stance is well known,' Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to the official TASS news agency. 'Russia takes the issue of nuclear non-proliferation very seriously,' Peskov added. 'And, of course, we believe that everyone should be extremely careful when it comes to nuclear rhetoric.' 4 President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on August 1, 2025 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Getty Images Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had taunted Trump last week in a flurry of posts on X about the US possibly deploying additional sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine — insisting that 'each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war.' Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, previously warned Trump of World War III in May in response to the US president's criticisms of Putin. On Friday, Trump responded by announcing he was moving two nuclear submarines to 'appropriate regions.' 4 Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarines are the most likely to have been dispatched closer to Russia. Merrill Sherman / NYPost Design 4 Medvedev, a close ally of Putin and deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, taunted Trump in a series of posts on X last week. 4 The US repositioned submarines to send a message to Russia as frustration over the lack of a cease-fire grows. 'I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,' he added, without further detailing where the vessels had been positioned.
UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
FBI warns of scam targeting foreign college students
On Monday, officials at the FBI's Philadelphia office said that college and university students studying abroad in the U.S. -- particularly Chinese citizens -- are at risk of an ongoing scheme that involves a foreign government impersonator. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Aug. 4 (UPI) -- FBI officials in Philadelphia on Monday issued an advisory warning international college students about a scam that involves foreign impersonators. They advised potential victims to report it. Officials at the Philadelphia office of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation say that college and university students studying abroad in the United States -- particularly Chinese citizens -- are at risk of an ongoing scheme that involves a foreign government impersonator. "We are actively engaging with the public, academic institutions, and our law enforcement partners to identify and support those impacted by this scheme," Wayne Jacobs, special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Field Office, said in a statement. According to FBI officials, since 2022 the Philadelphia office has seen an uptick in criminal activity with actors attempting to make a victim believe they are a Chinese police officer in order to defraud them. A scammer will tell a victim they are under investigation for an alleged financial crime in China and will need to pay in order to to avoid arrest. The typically four-phase scam will see a fraudster call from what appears to be a legitimate phone number associated with a mobile telephone service provider. They will inform a victim their private information had been "linked to either a subject or a victim of a financial fraud investigation," officials say. They added that a criminal actor will involve another person who acts as a provincial Chinese police officer and will seek to apply further pressure in attempts to get a potential victim to "return to China to face trial or threaten them with arrest." "Criminal actors direct victims to consent to 24/7 video and audio monitoring due to the alleged sensitivity of the investigation and/or to demonstrate the victims' innocence," the FBI's Philadelphia field office stated Monday. "Victims are instructed not to discuss the details of the case, not to conduct Internet searches, and to report all their daily activities," it added. The bureau gave a similar notice last year about China-based imposters seeking to extort money from victims. Other scams in the past also have affected Chinese victims. In 2019, the Chinese mother of a Stanford University student expelled in the college admissions scandal said she was duped into paying over $6 million in the belief the money was for college-related costs. Jacobs, the FBI's Philadelphia field office chief, says the scams "inflict more than just financial harm." He said many victims "endure lasting emotional and psychological distress."
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
AT&T, ordered to keep providing land-line service, takes fight to California legislature
Telecommunications giant AT&T, stymied last year by regulators in its bid to drop land-line service to California customers, is taking its battle to the state Legislature. And so far, the reception is much improved. Assembly Bill 470 would allow the company, which provides the vast majority of the state's landline service, to drop most of those customers, including nearly all of the hundreds of thousands in the Bay Area and millions around the state. It easily passed a floor vote in the Assembly in late June, and is now before the state Senate's appropriations committee. Berkeley hills resident Cynthia Larson, 63, an author who does not own a cell phone, is worried. "To me the landline is irreplaceable," she said. Even if Larson started using a cell phone, a fire or other natural disaster could disrupt internet and cell service, leaving her cut off from vital information. "Do I need to evacuate the house right now? Is the fire coming here right now? The landline is the standard for reliable communications. How many people is it OK to kill through this lunacy?" she asked. Because of its earlier monopoly status and state law requiring voice communications for all who want them, AT&T is for much of California the "carrier of last resort" or COLR - the utility required to provide phone service to anyone wanting it in its service area, unless another provider takes over the legal obligation. The bill aims to replace aging copper-wire landlines with phone service from cellular and cable providers. It would also force AT&T to significantly expand California fiber-based internet and phone service - with half the expansion in areas with poor internet and phone service - in exchange for breaking free of its obligations as a carrier of last resort under state law. "Right now we have 5% of Californians still using their copper lines," said Southern California Assembly Member Tina McKinnor, the bill's author. "Most of that is an older population. When we no longer have them with us, like my parents, we probably won't be 5%. We have to build up our infrastructure. There's no mandate making any other company build the fiber." Last year, the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously shot down a massively unpopular proposal by AT&T to scrap landline service for most of the Bay Area and much of California. Critics charged the pullback would have stripped many older people and rural residents of a communications lifeline in power outages and disasters such as fires and floods. Now, the utility, which reported $12.3 billion in profit last year, even though it says its carrier-of-last-resort status costs it $1 billion a year, is banking on AB 470. "It most definitely is an end run around the PUC," said Regina Costa, telecom policy director at The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco-based consumer advocacy group opposed to the bill. AT&T's president for California Susan Santana pledged in a statement last week that "no customer will be left without access to voice or 911 service." If AB 470 passes, the company will work with state leaders and residents "on policies that create a thoughtful transition to bring more reliable, modern communications to all Californians," Santana said. AT&T would move away from landlines in a "phased, multi-year approach, and "current copper services will be maintained until new technologies are available that are equally or more reliable," the company said. AT&T has found support for AB 470 among business and community groups and public officials, including San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. His office did not respond to questions about his support for the bill, listed in the most recent legislative analysis of the proposed law. The bill would let AT&T end landline coverage in areas deemed "well served" because they have three alternatives for basic voice phone service, including a provider of wire-based service such as cable, and a provider that offers the Lifeline discount service for low-income households. In most areas, two of the alternatives would likely be cell phone services. McKinnor, whose campaign for the 2026 election received a $5,500 donation from AT&T according to state records, introduced the bill in February. A spokesperson for McKinnor said campaign donations "have no impact on legislation that Assemblymember McKinnor either authors or takes a position on." McKinnor said the bill would "create the largest union-built private investment in advanced fiber optic networks in state history and will ensure that all California households will continue to be able to make affordable, reliable telephone calls and connect with emergency services when they need it." McKinnor noted that during fires, landline customers cannot receive evacuation notices via text message. A dozen Bay Area assembly members voted for the bill. South Bay Assembly Member Patrick Ahrens said the bill "contains protections ensuring that no one will go without access to telephone service and improves public safety by making significant investments in public infrastructure." Assembly Member Gail Pellerin, whose district includes forested areas of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties where many residents rely on landlines, declined to vote on the bill. Pellerin said in a statement she is focused on ensuring her constituents, "especially those in areas where internet service is not reliable, are not left without access to a landline should we remove COLR obligations." Pellerin said that at the time of the votes she "felt there was a discrepancy between the intent of the bill and the actual real-life applicability." If AB 470 passes, the California Public Utilities Commission would have to adopt a map designating well-served areas by Dec. 15, 2026. But TURN's Costa argues federal government maps to be used in creating the commission's map show areas where cable and wireless broadband are present, but millions of Californians there lack broadband and reliable cell service. Companies will not be required to provide service to every home, Costa said. A requirement for backup power for cellular or cable-based phone services applies only to fire-risk areas, despite California's history with floods and earthquakes, and loopholes mean many locations could still lose phone service during power outages, Costa said. Customers losing landlines could face higher costs from purveyors of alternative services, according to a report last month to the state Senate's committee on energy, utilities and communications. "Nothing limits these providers from raising their rates after a telephone corporation relinquishes its COLR duties," the report said. For customers in purportedly well-served areas who lose landlines and can't secure an alternative, the Public Utilities Commission would have to confirm the absence of options. "There is no way that people will understand what's going on," Costa said, "and there's no way that the commission has the resources to go out and verify throughout the entire state where there are verified alternative services." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
