A criminal organization was dismantled, whose members were active in the systematic and professionally illegal provision of pay television services.
-7- people were arrested, members of the organization, while the case file that was filed includes another -76- people
During the investigations, among other things, fully functional specialized IPTV box programming equipment, a number of new devices and equipment intended for sale to third-party end users - subscribers, customer lists, handwritten notes, agendas, the amount of money exceeding 18.885 euros, -4- vehicles and a motorcycle were found and seized.
The total financial gain gained by the criminal organization is estimated at at least -7.000.000- euros, while the total loss to legal providers is estimated to exceed -50.000.000- euros.
The Organized Crime Department of Crete of the Organized Crime Directorate dismantled a criminal organization, whose members were professionally and routinely involved in the illegal provision of pay television services.
In particular, in the context of targeted actions to combat online piracy of audiovisual content and after months of thorough and methodical investigation, the activity of a criminal organization emerged, the members of which were active in the systematic and professional provision of unauthorized access to protected audiovisual content through illegal online infrastructure.
To end their action, a coordinated police operation was carried out in the morning hours of yesterday, Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in areas of Heraklion, Crete, Attica, Agrinio, Corfu and Samos, with the assistance of police officers from the Economic Crimes Prosecution Sub-Directorate of the Organized Crime Countermeasures Directorate, the Crime Prosecution and Investigation Sub-Directorate of Corfu, Samos and Agrinio, as well as specialized officers from the Digital Forensic Investigation and Analysis Sub-Directorate of the Forensic Investigations Directorate, while assistance was also provided by a specialized team of officers from the Society for the Protection of Audiovisual Works (EPOE).
As part of the operation, -7- Greek citizens, men and a woman, aged 63, 40, 73, 39, 31, 42 and 36, were arrested, while -5- their accomplices, members of the organization and -71- end users - subscribers of the illegally provided service are also accused.
The case file filed against them concerns – as the case may be – the offenses of professional and continuing criminal organization, violation of intellectual property legislation, protection of subscription services and the specific laundering of proceeds from criminal activities.
As the investigation revealed, the members of the organization, at least since 2017, had developed a highly organized and multi-layered infrastructure for the illegal broadcasting of paid audiovisual content via the internet (IPTV), which operated continuously for several years and served a large number of users both in Greece and abroad.
More specifically, the members of the organization illegally obtained access to protected audiovisual content legally available from pay-TV platforms and streaming service providers. Subsequently, using specialized technological equipment, software and appropriately configured decoding systems, they collected this content and illegally retransmitted it via the internet to their “subscribers”, providing access to thousands of television channels, sports events, films, series and other digital content at a price much lower than that of legal subscriptions.
To support this illegal activity, they had developed an extensive network infrastructure consisting of servers, installed in Greece and abroad, while using intermediary servers, virtual private network (VPN) services, mechanisms to hide the real location of their systems, as well as systematically switching internet addresses and domain names, in order to make it difficult to locate them and bypass the blocking measures implemented by the competent Authorities and legal providers.
At the same time, the organization had a central subscriber management system, through which new customer registration, subscription activation and renewal, user account management and monitoring of the operation of the services provided were carried out.
Its structure displayed characteristics of a professional business, as its members had assumed distinct roles, such as the technical management of the infrastructure, the provision and updating of available content, the management of subscribers, as well as the provision of continuous technical support to address problems and ensure the smooth operation of the service.
Users' access to the illegally provided services was achieved either through specially configured decoding devices supplied by members of the organization or through the installation of specialized applications on "smart" televisions and other compatible devices. For this purpose, subscribers were provided with special activation links and technical installation instructions, while in many cases the members of the organization also undertook the configuration of the equipment.
Furthermore, it was found that the criminal organization utilized a multinational technological infrastructure and provided services to clients located in numerous countries, a fact that demonstrates the international nature of its activity.
Its operation was based on an extensive network of technological means and services, which ensured the continuous provision of illegal content and the maintenance of its operational capacity even in cases of blockages or technical interventions. In fact, in order to achieve the uninterrupted flow of the “services” they provided, the members of the criminal organization paid an amount of more than -280.000- euros for payments to logistical infrastructure.
In parallel with the illegal provision of subscription services, the members of the criminal organization had developed a mechanism for managing and distributing the income derived from their criminal activity, with the aim of concealing their origin and making it difficult for the competent authorities to trace them financially.
As emerged from the analysis of the financial data, they used a multitude of bank accounts and payment instruments both domestically and abroad, channeling funds through successive transactions in different countries. In addition, they utilized electronic payment services, digital wallets, prepaid transaction instruments and other alternative methods of transferring funds, while part of the payments were made directly in cash by the subscribers of the illegal services.
It was also found that sums of money derived from illegal activity were used to cover personal expenses, travel, high-cost living, as well as to acquire movable and immovable property. In this way, attempts were made to integrate illegal income into legitimate economic activity and conceal their true origin.
The overall organization, the specialization of the members' roles, the duration of the operation, the technological infrastructure that had been developed, the breadth of the clientele and the significant financial benefit that resulted from the illegal exploitation of protected content demonstrate the organization's systematic, professional and continuous action in the field of online piracy of audiovisual content.
In searches carried out in homes in the presence of a judicial officer, the following were found and seized:
fully functional specialized IPTV box programming equipment, based on which they had illegal subscription channel signals from legal subscription companies and access to thousands of film projects, multiple satellite devices from which they broadcast illegal channels on the Internet and to their clientele, multiple management panels installed on laptops and mobile phones, server purchase and maintenance data for foreign services, as well as management of multiple domain names, which are used to avoid blocking procedures of legal providers,
a multitude of new devices and equipment intended for sale to third-party end users - subscribers (satellite receivers/digital content playback devices, wireless antennas, IPTV ΒBox / TVBox / Android TVBox, remote controls, connection cables, power supplies, HDMI/video signal converters, rack-mount devices with network and video ports, etc.,
client lists, handwritten notes, agendas,
the amount of money exceeding -18.885- euros,
-4- vehicles and a motorcycle, as means of committing a crime,
a quantity of raw cannabis weighing -25,5- grams and
precision scale.
It is worth noting that the database that was identified showed more than -86.000- customers - end users, while the total financial benefit gained by the members of the criminal organization is estimated at at least -7.000.000- euros, with the total loss to legitimate providers estimated to exceed -50.000.000- euros.
In addition, the Supervising Prosecutor of the DAOE issued -7- provisions freezing assets and prohibiting the disposal of real estate assets of the arrested persons.
The seized digital evidence will be sent to the Criminal Investigations Directorate, while the seized funds will be sent to the Deposits and Loans Fund. In addition, the corresponding administrative fines will be imposed on the end users - subscribers of the illegally provided service in accordance with the relevant legislation.
The arrested persons are being taken to the competent prosecution authority, while the investigation continues by the Organized Crime Department of Crete to fully determine the scope of the organization's criminal activity.
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