An illegal streaming ringleader has been fined £7.5million and jailed for 23 months following an investigation in Spain.
A judgement was issued by a Spanish court on Monday, with LaLiga among the parties to welcome the verdict as a major victory in the fight against piracy.
Spain’s National Court set aside £10.4million in compensation from companies affected by the illegal streaming network, while imposing fines of £26m for money laundering.
The criminal network was overseen by a man nicknamed ‘Dash, The Iranian’.
The investigation found he had operated channels such as rapidiptv.com, rapidiptv.net, and iptvstack.com.
The channels were used to illegally distribute football broadcasts, films, and series, including LALIGA content, to more than two million people from servers spread across 13 countries on three continents.
It was estimated that the organisation had earned over £13million from its operations, with the network’s ringleader said to have lived a life of luxury in Barcelona.
Payment gateways, cryptocurrency exchanges, shell companies and false invoices were then found to have been used to launder that money.
LaLiga have hailed a court decision to jail and fine the ringleader of a illegal streaming operation that provide pirate access to top level football matches
Money was found to have been used for the construction of a residential building in Iran, the purchase of a property in Barcelona valued at £1.5million and the purchasing of two cars for £348,000.
As part of the judgement, the assets were seized and the domain names were shut down.
‘Dash’ was among five defendants to have accepted the charges, which ranged from intellectual property and money laundering charges, according to the Athletic.
‘This is a landmark ruling against one of the largest international criminal organisations dedicated to audiovisual piracy,’ said Jose Luis Gomez Pidal, Chief Inspector of the Spanish National Police.
‘The investigation has been groundbreaking in exposing the inner workings of these structures and introducing new technological methods to the Spanish judicial system.
‘At the same time, the case has revealed how digital piracy is intertwined with complex money laundering networks in various countries, using multiple channels to support and divert the enormous profits generated.’
LaLiga celebrated the judgement for taking action against ‘one of the largest illegal IPTV networks’.
The Spanish top flight had joined the case after an initial complaint by Nagravision, with Movistar Plus+, Mediapro, and Egeda among the other organisations joining the case.
‘Audiovisual fraud is a scourge that threatens the survival of an industry that is fundamental to the European economy, namely live sport,’ said Javier Tebas, LaLiga president.
‘We are proud of this exemplary sanction, which shows that piracy must be fought forcefully at every level, especially against the organisations and mafias behind it.’
