STB fraudster to pay back £40k+
February 5, 2019
By Colin Mann
A man who was jailed for 22 months in July 2018 for selling streaming device that allowed thousands of buyers to watch premium Sky TV content illegally has been ordered to pay back more than £40,000 (€45,600).
Glenn Burrows, of North Walsham in the east of England, made more than £400,000 by selling the devices, which allowed customers to view Sky without a valid subscription.
At his trial he admitted encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence under the Fraud Act, as well as money laundering through selling devices.
He reappeared in court on February 4th for a confiscation hearing to recover some of the proceeds of the operation. William Carter, prosecuting, said the benefit from the fraud was put at £486,282, and he said the assets which could be recovered from Burrows amounted to £40,623.
Judge Andrew Shaw agreed the order for Burrows to pay back £40,623, giving him three months to pay, ruling that he would have to serve a further 12 months in jail in default of the payment.
Burrows had been warned in March 2016 that he was breaking the law by selling the devices, as he had been sent a letter by intellectual property protection organisation FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft), but he ignored the warnings.