Five operators of illegal streaming network jailed for more than 30 years

The “landmark case” follows a multi-agency operation involving the Premier League, police, Trading Standards and the intellectual property protection organisation FACT.

Trading under the names Flawless, Shared VPS and Optimal (also known as Cosmic), the fraudulent operations generated in excess of £7 million in just five years.

The illegal streaming businesses involved more than 50,000 customers and resellers, and 30 employees, one of whom was positioned undercover at a specialist anti-piracy company.

The organisations offered illegal access to watch Premier League matches, hundreds of channels from around the world and tens of thousands of on-demand films and TV shows.

All but one of the defendants, including 36-year-old Londoner Mark Gould who masterminded the operation and was one of the original co-founders, eventually pleaded guilty to all charges against them. Gould, who was described by the judge as the driving force of the conspiracy, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, after new evidence emerged on the second day of the trial.

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) had managed to crack Gould’s encrypted computers as part of a separate criminal investigation, exposing vital new evidence relevant to the case.

William Brown, 33, from Stoke-on-Trent, who pleaded not guilty, falsely claimed to have been an undercover informant acting in the interests of law enforcement authorities and broadcasters.

However, he was instead using his expert technical skills to hack legitimate customers’ accounts to access and copy streams and intended for them to take the blame if identified by the authorities.

In February this year, following a seven-week trial, Brown was unanimously found guilty by the jury.

The investigation and prosecution undertaken by the Premier League was supported by Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s Trading Standards team and FACT. The MPS, West Midlands Police, Gwent Police, Lancashire Constabulary and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit also assisted in the operation.

The investigation also found significant evidence of other serious criminality. Christopher Felvus, 36, from Pontypool, has subsequently been convicted of multiple unrelated offences, including being in possession of indecent child imagery.

In addition, materials seized from Gould resulted in his further arrest by the MPS as he attempted to leave the country. He is now the subject of another ongoing separate criminal investigation, which the Premier League is assisting.

The five individuals behind three pirate streaming organisations were jailed for a total of 30 years and seven months at Chesterfield Justice Centre.

In handing down the sentences, the judge described a “sophisticated offence involving significant planning and expertise”, which involved the hacking of legitimate customers in the UK and abroad.

Kevin Plumb, Premier League General Counsel said: “Today’s sentencing is the result of a long and complex prosecution of a highly sophisticated operation. The sentences handed down, which are the longest sentences ever issued for piracy-related crimes, vindicate the efforts made to bring these individuals to justice and reflect the severity and extent of the crimes.

“This prosecution is another concrete example of the clear links between piracy and wider criminality, a warning we repeatedly make. While most Premier League fans enjoy watching our games in a safe way, those who were customers of these services were effectively supporting individuals involved in other sinister and dangerous organised crime.

“This was a hugely challenging case, and we are extremely grateful for the hard work and expertise of the authorities who supported us, in particular the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Trading Standards who coordinated the investigation and worked with law enforcement agencies across the country.

“The Premier League’s substantial financial contribution to the entire football pyramid is made possible through the ability to sell our broadcast rights. We are pleased that through rulings such as this, the courts continue to show that they recognise the importance of safeguarding the Premier League’s rights. We will continue to protect our rights and our fans by investigating and prosecuting illegal operators at all levels.”

FACT chief executive officer Kieron Sharp added: “FACT were delighted to support the Premier League on this landmark case, which is a powerful reminder that piracy is a serious crime with severe consequences.

“The successful result was made possible thanks to the invaluable support of numerous law enforcement agencies, including the Trading Standards teams from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea City Council, and the Metropolitan, Lancashire, Gwent and West Midlands police services. We were additionally assisted by the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit and the Government Agency Intelligence Network (GAIN).

“I would like to express our sincere thanks to all those agencies for their invaluable support, which has resulted in the dismantling of a major organised crime operation and reiterates the importance of protecting the rights of creators and content owners.”

In addition to pleading guilty to two conspiracies to defraud, Gould also admitted being in contempt of court, following the discovery that he had breached a court-imposed restraint order preventing him from dissipating his assets, by transferring almost £200,000 abroad after his arrest. He was sentenced to 11 years.

Steven Gordon, 46, from Morecambe, was another Flawless co-founder and in April 2018, with the assistance of Peter Jolley, he began and operated Optimal following a money dispute with Gould. He was jailed for five years nine months after pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud.

Jolley, 41, from Skelmersdale, was a further co-founder and assisted Gordon with running Optimal. In addition to two counts of conspiracy to defraud, Jolley also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering, after concealing almost £500,000 in his father and stepmother’s bank accounts. He was sentenced to five years two months.

Brown was a highly skilled technical expert employed by Flawless and Shared VPS to perform various roles, including helping Flawless to avoid detection by the authorities, hacking broadcasters and their legitimate subscribers to source content, as well as sabotaging and stealing content from rival illegal services. He took the case to trial and in February 2023, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to defraud and sentenced to four years nine months.

Felvus was another co-founder of Flawless, before his role was reduced to employee. Evidence seized from Felvus’ computers established that he was in possession of indecent child imagery. This was handed straight to the police for a separate criminal investigation and prosecution. In January 2021, he pleaded guilty to three charges of possession of an indecent photograph of a child and to committing 13 acts of voyeurism for which he received a custodial sentence and was placed on the sex offenders’ register for ten years. After pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud, he was sentenced to three years 11 months.

A sixth defendant Zak Smith, 30, from Bridgnorth, failed to appear at sentencing and a warrant is currently out for his re-arrest. Smith worked with Flawless in early 2018, selling information obtained from his employment at an online monitoring and enforcement agency. His involvement was identified following the raid of Gould and a subsequent investigation. He was immediately dismissed from his position, arrested and in February 2020 pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud. He has been recorded as wanted on the Police National Computer database and is yet to be sentenced.

Additionally, the judge noted that all six defendants failed to pay tax on any of their illegal earnings.

Flawless (the original service that involved Gould, Gordon, Jolley, Brown, Felvus and Smith) operated between August 2016 and May 2018.

Optimal (launched by Gordon with assistance from Jolley) was a breakaway service that operated between April 2018 and June 2018, after a pay dispute between Gould and Gordon. It ultimately failed however due to Gould and Brown sabotaging the splinter service by repeatedly infecting its servers with malware.

Shared VPS (run by Gould, together with Felvus and Brown) was an underground service that operated between May 2018 and July 2021, seeking to continue Flawless after the initial arrest of Gould.

The Premier League has one of the most comprehensive anti-piracy programmes in the world, working with broadcast partners and authorities to bring down illegal streams and investigate and prosecute suppliers of illegal streaming services.

Since March 2017 it has also been operating highly sophisticated blocking orders obtained from the UK High Court, requiring internet service providers to block access to illegal live streams in real-time, during matches. These have been regularly enhanced to address evasion methods deployed by pirate operators.

It is not just the supply of such content that may lead to prosecution.

In January, police visited homes across the UK, serving notices to individuals to cease illegal streaming activities with immediate effect.

More than 1,000 individuals were identified following raids by West Mercia Police against a UK-based illegal streaming service that was supplying entertainment and sports content, including Premier League matches, via modified boxes, firesticks, and subscriptions.

West Mercia Police (Specialist Operations – Cyber Crime) Detective Inspector Matt McNellis said at the time: “West Mercia Police worked in partnership with FACT and other agencies during Operation Raider to prevent criminal activity and raise public awareness around illegal streaming services.

“We are able to deploy cutting-edge digital tactics to identify and detect people who break the law before carrying out enforcement activity in concert with our partners.

“Often illegal streaming is used to fund serious organised crime and West Mercia Cybercrime Unit is committed to interdicting this source of criminal revenue and reducing the harm organised crime groups can do to our communities.”

GAIN national coordinator Jason Grove said the operation had involved months of collaborative hard work, adding that the warning notices issued were “an excellent example of adopting a multi-agency approach between FACT and the police”.

“By working in partnership, sharing intelligence lawfully and efficiently, the network aims to ensure that government agencies and law enforcement will help reduce the risk, threat and harm from serious and organised crime,” he said.

In April this year, four West Mercia Police officers were among those been recognised for their outstanding work in tackling piracy at FACT’s Excellence Awards.

The awards ceremony honoured a total of 19 people who were involved in the successful prosecutions of some of the largest illegal streaming operations in the UK over the past few years.

In addition to West Mercia Police, the recipients also included officers from six other police forces across the UK – Greater Manchester, Gwent, Lancashire, Merseyside, MPS and West Midlands – together with the North-West Regional Organised Crime Unit.

City of London Police Assistant Commissioner Pete O’Doherty, the National Police Chiefs’ Council coordinator for cyber and economic crime, said: “Piracy is a crime that causes immense damage and can give criminals immense profits. The outstanding work of those nominated and receiving these awards is absolutely vital in combatting that crime.”