Two Men Jailed Over Illegal Set-Top Box Scam Raking In £540k
At Canterbury Crown Court, Londoner Billy Martin was handed 21 months behind bars. Darren Bough from Dover got two years. Both pled guilty to Fraudulent Trading, Money Laundering, and Copyright Offences after a Kent County Council Trading Standards bust.
Police Seize Tailor-Made Set-Top Boxes Fueling Streaming Crime
Back in 2019, Kent Trading Standards raided homes in Dover and Tonbridge. They seized several electronic devices including customised set-top boxes. These forbidden gadgets let users stream dodgy live broadcasts and on-demand films using illegal media player add-ons.
“They struck at the heart of online commerce,” said Judge Rupert Lowe, branding their scheme “quite simply a cheat.”
Fraudulent Streaming Operation Raked In Hundreds of Thousands
- The duo sold tiered memberships via Facebook.
- Customers paid via five PayPal accounts.
- The scam netted over £540,000 in just 18 months.
- Bough pocketed nearly £400,000; Martin took home £140,000.
- Both admitted to laundering the illicit funds.
Despite pleas citing family responsibilities, Judge Lowe said the case was “too serious” for anything but jail time. He also warned others tempted to buy or sell illegal streams.
Kent Trading Standards Vows to Crack Down on IP Crime
Clive Phillips, Kent County Council’s Trading Standards Manager, hit out at intellectual property thieves. He said, “This crime damages creators, drains tax revenue, and stifles innovation. We’ll keep fighting to protect fair trading in Kent.”
The council now plans to pursue confiscation of the criminals’ ill-gotten gains under Proceeds of Crime laws.
