On Saturday morning, the courts of Heraklion on Saturday morning (June 20), four of the seven individuals arrested and accused of participating in the large pirate pay-TV television.
The case is not limited to Crete, as investigations revealed activity throughout Greece and abroad. According to data from the Hellenic Police, the ring had a customer base exceeding 86,000 subscribers, while the illegal financial gain is estimated at at least 7 million euros. The losses to legitimate providers are estimated to reach 50 million euros.
Three more defendants have been given a deadline and are expected to appear in court on Monday.
The 58 accounts and international money transfers
The authorities are placing particular emphasis on the financial aspect of the case. During the investigation, 58 bank accounts were identified that are linked to individuals allegedly involved in the ring.
The accounts are located in countries such as Luxembourg, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Malta, Germany, Estonia, and North Macedonia.
An analysis of the financial data revealed that the organization’s members were using digital wallets, electronic payment services, prepaid payment instruments, and other alternative methods of transferring funds. In several cases, payments were also made in cash by users of the illegal services.
At the same time, according to the case file, the ring’s members invested part of their proceeds in real estate, expensive cars, and luxury vacations.
Heraklion: How the illegal subscription network operated
The investigation revealed that the organization had been active since at least 2017, having created a complex infrastructure for the illegal online retransmission of subscription content (IPTV).
Its members illegally gained access to protected audiovisual material from subscription platforms and streaming services. They then used specialized equipment and software to rebroadcast the content to their customers at very low prices.
Through their service, they provided access to thousands of TV channels, sporting events, movies, TV series, and other digital content.
To avoid detection, they used servers in Greece and abroad, VPN services, location-hiding systems, and constantly changing IP addresses and domain names.
At the same time, they operated a central subscriber management system, through which new customer registrations, subscription renewals, and service monitoring were carried out.
According to the Hellenic Police, in addition to the seven individuals arrested, the case file also includes five alleged accomplices of the organization, as well as 71 end users who appear as subscribers to the illegal platform.
