Not such a Romanian poster boy after all!
Migrant welcomed to Britain by Vaz leaves women who gave him a home with £900 debt
HE WAS the first person off the plane when Britain lifted visa restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians three years ago.
And ever since, Victor Spirescu has been the unrivalled poster boy for EU migration, claiming to earn £60,000 a year through hard work.
But one woman who helped Mr Spirescu after he arrived in the UK says her kindness has been repaid with subterfuge, debts and excuses. On one occasion, Mr Spirescu even told her that women were not his equal.
Single mother Anne Brown took Mr Spirescu into her home after her daughter Zoe, 22, met him last summer. He said he had nowhere to live, having been kicked out by his girlfriend – Romanian-Cypriot Suzana Mates, also 22.
Zoe then fell for Mr Spirescu and the pair became a couple. But while Zoe would shortly find herself broken-hearted when Mr Spirescu returned to his ex, her mother was left counting the cost of her encounter with this citizen of the new, expanded Europe: £879, to be exact.
For, unbeknown to her, during his six-week stay at her house in Hendon, North London, Mr Spirescu used the address to register his car.
After he left in September, there followed a stream of parking fines and official letters, culminating last month in a visit from bailiffs demanding money following an accident – one that Zoe believes happened while Mr Spirescu was on the phone to her, having a blazing row.
Having, perhaps unwisely, invited the bailiffs in for a cup of tea, baker Mrs Brown said they refused to leave without fulfilling the court order awarding the money to the other party involved.
‘I phoned Victor,’ said Mrs Brown, 55. ‘He spoke to one of the bailiffs and said he didn’t live here any more, but that wasn’t good enough. So I settled the debt after Victor had promised to pay me back.
‘He came around that evening with Suzana and promised he’d pay me back, but was waiting for some money to come in.
‘In the following weeks, Zoe was surprised to see his Facebook posts about days out he was enjoying with Suzana and reminded him of his obligation to me – telling him not to forget the people who helped him when he had nothing.
‘But now he won’t answer his phone. In one text, just before Christmas, he told me that he was Romanian and that women were “not equal” with him and we should remember that.’
There’s no doubt that Mr Spirescu’s Facebook page is designed to impress. There are endless photographs of him and London-based business student Suzana on trips to Amsterdam, Paris and Cyprus. The pair have also visited Oxford, Bournemouth and Windsor.
Mr Spirescu was welcomed by Labour MP Keith Vaz when he arrived from Romania, and declared he wanted to ‘work, earn money and go home’. He started by cleaning cars but, according to his subsequent media updates, he has exceeded those expectations thanks to a thriving air-conditioning business and a glamorous girlfriend.
He claims to have earned £62,000 in 2015, and £58,000 last year, and has bought a fleet of cars and enjoyed plenty of exotic travel.
When The Mail on Sunday caught up with Mr Spirescu last week, he was again on holiday with Suzana – this time in Berlin.
When asked about Mrs Brown and her debts, he told our reporter that her claim was ‘b******t’.
‘I never crashed a car,’ he claimed. ‘I gave her that car, a Renault Espace. I never received paperwork from her telling her she was liable for this so-called accident. Why would she not show me?’
Documents seen by The Mail on Sunday state that Mr Spirescu is the registered keeper of the car – but at Mrs Brown’s address.
He did admit to moving into Mrs Brown’s home with Zoe for two months.
‘I slept in a single bed in a single room with her and paid her mother £100 a week’ – although Mrs Brown claims it was £80 a week.
He added: ‘This woman is just greedy. I am going to sort it out with her when I get home.’