‘Brazen' illegal streaming kingpin who made £1 million from dodgy sites showing Sky Sports and 4,500 channels is jailed
STREAM OVER 'Brazen' illegal streaming kingpin who made £1 million from dodgy sites showing Sky Sports and 4,500 channels is jailed
A BRIT who enjoyed a lavish lifestyle running three illegal streaming sites for cheap access to Sky Sports has been jailed for more than three years.
Stephen Woodward, 36, splashed out on designer clothes and jewellery, expensive holidays and a Jaguar F-Type V8 coupe worth £91,000 from his ill-gotten gains.
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The 36-year-old launched two more streaming sites despite being caught running IPTV Hosting
Credit: City of London Police
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Stephen Woodward bought a flashy a Jaguar F-Type V8 coupe with his ill-gotten gains
Credit: City of London Police
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Police seized wads of cash from his property on several occasions
Credit: City of London Police
Messages found on his phone bragged of making £100,000 a month from the operation.
Stephen ran three websites with access to Sky Sports and 4,500 other premium channels for a small fee.
This included IPTV Hosting, Helix Hosting and Black and White TV, which have all since been closed down.
Police believe he pocketed £1million overall.
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"Stephen was brazen in running his illegal steaming websites," said Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, from City of London Police.
"Despite being the subject of a criminal investigation, he had clearly not learned his lesson and yet again attempted to gain financially from his illegal activity.
"His sentencing and upcoming confiscation proceedings should send a message that there are significant consequences for criminals who enable illegal access to copyrighted content."
City of London Police's Intellectual Property Crime Unit secured an all-assets restraint order against a total of £1.1 million held in 15 bank accounts and 21 cryptocurrency wallets owned by Stephen.
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A further £144,121 worth of cash, which was seized from Stephen during their investigation, was also frozen.
These funds, in addition to jewellery seized by officers from Stephen's address, will now be subject to confiscation proceedings.
Police Crack Down on Illegal Sky Sports Streaming: Risks and Consequences
The 36-year-old, from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, pleaded guilty at York Crown Court on February 21 to distributing articles infringing copyright and four money laundering offences.
He will serve three years and one month behind bars.
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His brother Christopher Woodward, 34, who pocketed £126,000 from the operation, pleaded guilty to money laundering.
He was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and must also complete 240 hours of unpaid work.
Officers first arrested Stephen back in November 2019 and searched his home address, where they seized almost £5,000, a computer, a hard drive, nine phones and around 100 SIM cards to help him open different PayPal accounts using false identities he bought online.
Analysis of his phone found evidence of communications with various companies to assist with the running of IPTV Hosting, in which he said he was making £100,000 a month.
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Despite being released under investigation, Stephen launched two further illegal streaming websites, Black and White TV and Helix Hosting.
He was arrested and had his home searched a second time in July 2020, telling officers on the scene "the cash is in the same place as last time".
But that wasn't to be the only time Stephen landed himself in trouble with the police.
In November 2020, he was arrested again by British Transport Police at Kings Cross station on suspicion of money laundering, after a staff
member at Thirsk station saw him place a carrier bag behind a grit bin before boarding a train to London.
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The staff member checked the contents of the bag and was shocked to find £20,000.
Kieron Sharp, Chairman of anti piracy organisation FACT, said: "This investigation and the outcome underline that illegal streaming is not a victimless crime.
"It harms the creative economy and funds criminality.
"FACT commends the work of PIPCU in bringing this long-running case to justice."
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