Greek Police have arrested 10 individuals and seized money, cars, and more after dismantling an illegal IPTV Service.
On September 28, 2023, the Patras Security Sub-Directorate ordered and carried out a raid on a suspected unlawful IPTV Operation.
The raid resulted in 10 individuals being arrested for various crimes surrounding the IPTV Service.
These included:
- Founding and Participating in a Criminal Organization
- Violations of the Laws on Intellectual Property
- Violations of the Laws on the organization and operation of the Press and Communication Offices
- Violation of the Legislation on prevention and suppression of money laundering
In total, 9 of the arrests were local Greek citizens with one being a foreigner from out of state.
Those involved in the IPTV scheme ran the service for over 8 years and accrued more than 13,000 customers from across the country.
From a statement made by Greek authorities, the police noted how the operation ran including various techniques used.
Members of the criminal organization for the past 8 years have been channeling decoders for illegal retransmission of subscription channels to the market, using specialized technical means, illegal software, as well as special decoders…
Subscription packages were sold to customers and managed via an online management panel installed on a computer or mobile phone.
Packages included various live channels as well as VOD Content including Movies and TV Shows for which the owners did not have copyright permission to distribute.
The investigation by the Patras Security Sub-Directorate and Hellenic Police stated that “beneficiary companies” lost up to 100 million euros in compensation.
These included various TV Companies such as Cosmote, Nova, and Vodafone. Details for how this number was calculated are not available.
In total, the operation earned more than 25 million euros over the course of the 8-year span which individuals “legalized” with various purchases.
The members of the criminal organization legalized the income from their criminal acts, through the purchase of real estate, the establishment of individual companies and through betting companies.
Police raided the houses of those involved as well as various shops, warehouses, and vehicles owned by the alleged individuals.
During the raid, numerous items were seized including:
- 93,500 euros
- 6,400 British pounds
- electronic IPTV Boxes
- mobile phones
- storage disks
- computers
- 6 luxury cars
- 6 motorcycles
- handwritten notes listing clients, their phone numbers and addresses, as well as the amounts of money they received from each
The biggest takeaway here is that information for those who registered with and used this IPTV Service is now in the hands of authorities.
This isn’t the first time we have seen IPTV Sellers face criminal charges and jail time.
3 Individuals Arrested for Pirate IPTV Copyright Infringement
Flawless IPTV Operators Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison
LaLiga Helps Arrest Pirate IPTV Operators
It will be interesting to see if the individuals involved are sentenced and any prosecution that may occur.
This story was originally published in a press release by the Greek Police Civil Protection Ministry.
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