A hapless spy bought an engagement ring to propose to his girlfriend but discovered she was sleeping with their Russian handler.
Former swimming champion Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, was among a group of Bulgarians convicted on Friday of spying for the Kremlin.
Police who raided their homes found beautician Vanya Gaberova, 30, naked in bed with their boss Biser Dzhambazov, 43, who had been cheating on his own long-term partner.
Relatives said Ivanchev had planned to ask her to marry him. One said: ‘He was upset because he bought her a ring but didn’t give it to her because she’s done the cheating just before. He was actually going to give her the ring. So he’s hurt.
‘He bought it for Christmas. He wanted to give it to her for Christmas Day and he ended up being alone. She was with the other guy.
‘When you give your life [to] someone and they treat you that way, it upsets you.’
Ivanchev and Gaberova had moved to Britain and he borrowed £25,000 so she could open her own beauty salon named Pretty Woman in Acton, west London, which he decorated.
Gaberova recruited him into the spy ring after meeting Dzhambazov at a Bulgarian polling station and being impressed by boasts about his high-flying lifestyle.
Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, was among a group of Bulgarians convicted on Friday of spying for the Kremlin
Relatives say Ivanchev planned to propose to his then girlfriend Vanya Gaberova (pictured) before she was found to have cheated on him
Gaberova pictured with her and Ivanchev’s boss Biser Dzhambazov. Police found the pair in bed when they raided her home in February 2023
Ivanchev planned to propose to her at Christmas 2022 but discovered she had been cheating shortly before. ‘He was still too nice to her,’ his relative said.
‘[And it has] ruined his life.’
Police found Gaberova and her lover in bed when they raided her home in February 2023.
Dzhambazov’s girlfriend of 17 years, Katrin Ivanova, only found out about their affair when she herself was arrested.
As he juggled the women, the spy boss pretended to have cancer to explain his long absences.
He even wrapped toilet paper round his head to give the appearance of bandages during a videocall with his lover. Ivanchev, Gaberova, and Ivanova, 33, were found guilty of conspiring to spy for Russia in the ring run from a guest house in Great Yarmouth.
Their handler, Orlin Roussev, 46, his lieutenant Dzhambazov, and Ivan Stoyanov, 32, had already admitted charges under the Official Secrets Act.
All the agents face up to 14 years in jail when they are sentenced in May.
Dzhambazov’s own girlfriend of 17 years, Katrin Ivanova (pictured), only found out about their affair when she herself was arrested
A fake press card belonging to Ivanchev. The agent said he was told the foreign spying trips would be ‘more like paid holidays,
The group passed secrets to Moscow for almost three years, spying on a US airbase in Germany and tailing opponents of the state.
The two women were deployed in ‘honeytrap plots,’ with handlers even discussing kidnapping and murdering their targets.
Ivanchev was one of Bulgaria’s top open water swimmers and competed around the world before having to give up in 2012 because of a lack of sponsorship.
