Widow of wealthy British businessman who was killed in a hit and run crash in Ukraine repays £21,000 in legal aid after government lawyers threaten her with court action

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The widow of a wealthy British businessman killed in a suspicious hit and run accident in the Ukraine has repaid £21,000 in legal aid after Government lawyers threatened her with court action.

Internet bride Ganna Ziuzina, 39, was granted public funds to fight for a share of her husband Barry Pring’s £1.5million estate following his death ten years ago.

The former stripper was deemed eligible to claim legal support in the UK three months after Mr Pring, 47, was hit by a car and killed in Ukraine in February 2008, even though she did not move to Britain until he died.

Pictured: Miss Ziuzina and Mr Pring, who were married near Kiev, Ukraine, in 2007

Pictured left and right: Miss Ziuzina poses for photographs 

Pictured: Miss Ziuzina by a swimming pool 

 Details of her legal aid bill were revealed by the Daily Mail a year ago, when the Legal Aid Agency announced it was considering taking court action to recover the money paid to Miss Ziuzina.

At the time, it was unclear how it would claw back the money given that Miss Ziuzina – who now calls herself Julianna Moore - is now living in a luxury villa in Spain with another wealthy British businessman.

But in a rare victory, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has now revealed that Miss Ziuzina – who owns a £700,000 property on the Costa del Sol – has given back the money to the Legal Aid Agency.

The agency said last February it was considering court action against Miss Ziuzina, whose ‘legal aid was revoked in August 2012 after she failed to cooperate with an investigation into her financial means’.

It added: ‘She is liable for all the legal aid costs paid out for her case. We continue to take all possible steps to recover the costs.’

Mr Pring’s death was initially treated by Ukrainian police as an accident then upgraded to a murder inquiry after the bungled investigation was exposed by the Mail in 2011. Pictured: Miss Ziuzina and Mr Pring on their wedding day 

Details of her legal aid bill followed a Freedom of Information request by the Mail to the Ministry of Justice, which revealed she had received £21,165 aid for ‘probate and inheritance’ matters - £14,113 for her solicitor, £5,964 for her barrister and £1,088 in expenses to help prepare the case.

IT consultant Mr Pring was run over on a dual carriageway on the outskirts of Kiev as he waited to hail a taxi after he and Miss Ziuzina enjoyed a meal to celebrate their first wedding anniversary.

As she went back inside the restaurant to collect a pair of gloves, Mr Pring, from Battersea, South West London, was killed by a speeding vehicle with no lights and stolen number plates.

Mr Pring is said to have been besotted with Miss Ziuzina, whom he met online.

She has strenuously denied any involvement in Mr Pring’s death.

A second inquest into his death is due to take place in the UK next year, after the findings of the first one last year were quashed for legal reasons.

A pre-inquest hearing took place in Bristol earlier this month to hear various legal arguments about the case.

Citing the case of Princess Diana, Leslie Blohm QC, for the Pring family, told circuit judge Paul Matthews – who will preside over the new inquest – that it was possible to hold an inquest into a death which had occurred overseas.

He also suggested it was possible to have an inquest into a death in this country where criminal investigations or proceedings were underway.

The Ukrainian police investigation into Mr Pring’s suspected murder has been dogged by allegations of corruption, incompetence and a cover-up.

Legal sources believe several people may have been involved in a plot to kill him.

Police initially treated Devon-born Mr Pring’s death as a traffic accident. It was upgraded to a murder inquiry only after a Daily Mail investigation in 2011 exposed the shambolic nature of the investigation.

In a statement, the MoJ confirmed it had recovered the legal aid costs from Miss Ziuzina.

Miss Ziuzina’s lawyer, John Cabot, told the Mail: ‘Now the second inquest has been opened by the coroner it is inappropriate for either I or Ms Moore to make statements to the media.

‘In any event Ms Moore has settled her differences with the LAA and no legal aid costs remain outstanding.