An 'influencer' who scammed TK Maxx stores out of more than £1,100 while using her pet Chihuahua in her handbag as a distraction has been spared jail.
Angelica Zabrodina, 48, engaged checkout workers in conversation about her pooch while trying to pass cheap goods off as designer brands for a refund at TK Maxx shops across London.
Zabrodina, of Marylebone, central London, denied the allegations but was found guilty of seven counts of fraud by false representation.
She was given a 12-month community order with a 25-day rehabilitation requirement on Friday.
Six times between October 10 and November 8, 2018, she returned eight bogus items to five different stores swindling £1,156.94.
On one occasion Zabrodina was seen on CCTV buying two bottles of perfume worth £65 and £149.99 in the same store in separate transactions.
She later returned the cheaper bottle to the High Street Kensington branch - using the receipt from the more expensive bottle.
Another tactic was to print out multiple receipts for online purchases and return clothes bought elsewhere.
Some were cheap items into which Zabrodina had sewn a designer label to fool shop assistants.
On November 8 she 'returned' a black dress using the receipt of a £299.99 white dress which had a different label sewn in.
She was convicted of seven counts of fraud by false representation after obtaining refunds for cheap clothes with designer labels 'badly' sewn inside.
Emily Lauchlan, defending, told Southwark Crown Court the publicity of the case had caused her client an 'extreme amount of personal stress'.
Ms Lauchlan said: "Ms Zabrodina also has bruises on both her eyes at present.
"She was mugged at 5pm, she had her sunglasses stolen, her necklace stolen.
"She was punched and kicked while she was on the floor.
"She is in excruciating pain."
The barrister added that Zabrodina had already been 'publicly punished by the press'.
"She has a very positive relationship with her daughter, and she continues to volunteer with her dog at hospitals and care homes on a weekly basis," added Ms Lauchlan.
The court heard that the Zabrodina's four-legged accomplice was a 'comfort dog' that spends time with patients in those facilities.
Imposing a community order, Judge Sally Cahill said: "You have been found guilty after trial of seven counts of fraud.
"I am not going to repeat the method by which you achieved these frauds.
"The evidence in the trial was overwhelming and there is no doubt in my mind that the jury got it right when they convicted you.
"It is extremely sad that you still can't face what you did at this point.
"I hope two things: that you will continue in the future as you have been since that time, not to commit further offences and by the work you are going to do with the probation service you will come to recognise your criminality."
Germaine Parry, a regional loss prevention manager for the store who headed the investigation into her crimes, earlier said she was caught out after sewing the new label in odd places.
He said: "The dress was labelled Balenciaga, a fashion brand. As I looked at the item she refunded I could see there were inconsistencies with the genuine merchandise.
"The original brand labelling was removed from that merchandise. It was badly sewn in the front of the V-neck.
"Obviously most have it sewn in the neck but it wasn't there and you could see the original stitching. In this one she actually sewed it in the front of the V-neck."
When questioned over this transaction Zabrodina replied she did not 'believe in numbers'.
Zabrodina, who describes herself as an 'Actor, Extra, Model, Influencer, Photographer' on the Starnow website, attended court in a black lacy fitted dress, white jacket and white sandals.
During her trial, she blamed store staff for pressuring her to buy clothes, calling her a pig and looking at her like she was 'crazy'.
The scammer broke down in tears as she told jurors she prescribed herself 'dog therapy' to cope with a shopping addiction brought on because 'people like me when I buy'.
On the second day of her trial she declared: "I want to prove TK Maxx are not innocent."
Zabrodina, of Marylebone, central London, denied but was found guilty of seven counts of fraud by false representation. The jury cleared her of one count.
She was given a 12-month community order with a 25-day rehabilitation requirement.'
