Jail term for fugitive IPTV reseller
May 9, 2023
By Colin Mann
A man who made over £200,000 (€229,500) by reselling an IPTV service that enabled people to watch premium television content without a subscription has been jailed for five years.
Mark Brockley, from Liverpool in the northwest of England, made £237,000 by selling subscriptions that enabled the illegal streaming of content hosted by BT Sport, including Premier League, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League football matches, through a service called Infinity Streams.
Brockley was found guilty of supplying articles for use in fraud and of the fraudulent evasion of income tax at a trial in his absence at Liverpool Crown Court after he failed to attend court. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment at the same court on May 5th, 2023.
Officers from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at the City of London Police believe that Brockley travelled to France with his dog to avoid prosecution, but his current whereabouts are unknown. Brockley will serve his prison sentence once he has been arrested.
“Brockley made tens of thousands of pounds from an illegal activity and used the money to fund his lifestyle,” commented Detective Constable Geoffrey Holbrook, from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police. “Despite being interviewed by PIPCU officers and knowing that his actions were against the law, he continued to sell IPTV subscriptions and then left the country in an attempt to avoid the consequences of his actions.”
“We are now appealing for information on Brockley’s whereabouts, and ask anyone who may be able to help to contact the City of London Police.”
PIPCU launched an investigation in November 2018 after BT reported that a Twitter account, using the handle @Infinity_IPTV, was advertising the sale of premium film, television and sports content to its followers. Subscribers could purchase a month-long subscription to Infinity IPTV for £15.
The unit identified that Brockley had made 5,251 sales with a total value of £237,058 from October 2014 to May 2019. Of these, 1,408 sales, worth a total of £50,479, made a clear reference to IPTV services, but officers from PIPCU believe that the remaining payments were also related to the sale of these services.
Brockley had not declared any income to HM Revenue and Customs since December 2018.
PIPCU officers executed a search warrant at Brockley’s home address in July 2019, and seized a laptop and mobile phone, which further linked Brockley to the @Infinity_IPTV Twitter account. They also seized £1,200 in cash.
During his police interview, Brockley answered ‘no comment’ to all questions. He received 10 further payments in relation to the supply of IPTV services, worth a total of £278, following the interview.