Fraudster landed Civil Servant job by supplying video game reference

Fraudster took £25,000 in wages after landing well-paid Civil Servant job by supplying reference in the name of Assassin’s Creed video game character Layla Hassan

• Angelica Stoichkov worked at General Chiropractic Council as policy officer while moonlighting at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs  
• Southwark Crown Court heard The Bulgarian had been signed off sick at GCC
• DEFRA unit found Ms Stoichkov used popular video game character reference

A fraudster took £25,000 in wages after landing a well-paid Civil Servant job by supplying a reference in the name of the popular Assassin’s Creed video game character Layla Hassan, a court has heard. 

Angelica Stoichkov, 32, worked at the General Chiropractic Council as a policy and communications officer while moonlighting at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Southwark Crown Court heard she had been signed off sick at the GCC due to an eye problem, which she claimed made her unable to use computer screens.

However, Ms Stoichkov was caught red-handed when her employers noticed her LinkedIn profile said she was working at DEFRA.

The Bulgarian had been paid more than £25,000 in wages after she landed the job at the ministerial department in January 2021. Salaries for DEFRA policy advisers can range from £27,777 to £55,299 per year.

DEFRA’s professional standards unit had also launched an investigation and found Stoichkov had supplied a reference in the name of Layla Hassan – a character from the popular video game franchise Assassin’s Creed. 

Angelica Stoichkov, 32, (pictured) worked at the General Chiropractic Council as a policy and communications officer while moonlighting at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

Southwark Crown Court heard Ms Stoichkov had been signed off sick at the GCC due to an eye problem which she claimed made her unable to use computer screens

The judge, Miss Recorder Maryam Syed, said the offence was ‘very serious’ adding: ‘I must decide the appropriate way to properly punish her and send a signal of deterrence to the public.’

Wearing a white suit, Stoichkov wept as the judge told her: ‘You have now lost your previous good character because you now have a conviction for an offence of dishonesty and fraud.

‘It will affect how you secure any further education and employment. That is, as you know, your own fault.

‘This is something in my view that is not opportunistic. It involved an element of planning.’

‘There is an element of you wanting to fund certain things and you wished to be a higher achiever and do better in your career.

‘There was definitely an element of personal gain to you.

‘I can see that you are upset and that you have found this very troubling.

DEFRA’s professional standards unit had also launched an investigation and found Stoichkov had supplied a reference in the name of Layla Hassan (pictured) – a character from the popular video game franchise Assassin’s Creed

‘What you have done is seriously wrong and deceitful. To deal with the public concern is to impose an onerous community order and I do so as a direct alternative to custody. You are being punished as part of a criminal sentence.

‘You are an intelligent young woman, you are a young woman, this was a very serious thing you did.

‘But I am giving you the opportunity to turn your life around. You have potential – go utilise that potential.’

Stoichkov, of Islington, north London, admitted fraud by false representation.

She was sentenced to a two-year community order to carry out 100 hours unpaid work with an additional 30 days rehabilitation activity requirement.

Stoichkov is also subject to a three-month electronically monitored curfew at her home address between 10:30pm and 8am.

No order for compensation or confiscation was ordered since the GCC had successfully settled a civil claim against her.

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