Premier League illegal streaming gang jailed after making £7m in cheap subscriptions

A gang has been jailed for selling cheap and illegal streaming subscriptions for Premier League matches to more than 50,000 people.

The Premier League said five men have been convicted of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and contempt of court after generating more than £7million in five years. Mark Gould, from London, was the reported mastermind behind the operation.

The 36-year-old was handed an 11-year prison sentence at Chesterfield Crown Court on Tuesday (30 May), along with his co-defendants Steven Gordon, Peter Jolley, William Brown and Christopher Felvus. The gang offered illegal access to matches from hundreds of channels all over the world, as well as tens of thousands of on-demand films and TV shows, the PA News Agency reports.

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The illegal streaming business had 30 employees, with one undercover at a specialist anti-piracy company. 41-year-old Jolly from Skelmersdale was jailed for five years and two months for two counts of conspiracy to defraud and one count of money laundering, after concealing £500,000 in his parents’ bank accounts.

Gordon, 46 from Morecambe, was jailed for five years and nine months for two counts of conspiracy to defraud. Brown, from Stoke-on-Trent, denied conspiracy to defraud, as he claimed he was working undercover in the interests of law enforcement authorities and broadcasters.

However, the 33-year-old was unanimously convicted by a jury after a seven-week trial and jailed for four years and nine months. The League said he used his technical know-how to hack legitimate customers’ accounts and access and copy streams, meaning they’d take the blame if identified by authorities.