The ringleader of a multi-million pound scam to provide Virgin Media's TV service for free has been jailed for six years.
Mahesh Tailor (51) was so successful at running the fraud that when police raided his home, they found a ?250,000 in cash.
Tailor, of Hollies Way, Thurnby, ran circuit board manufacturing company Tailor Made Circuits, in Pinfold Road, Thurmaston. He found a way to circumnavigate the encryption of cable television channels supplied by Virgin Media using illicit set top boxes.
Martin Hurst, prosecuting, said Tailor imported thousands of set-top boxes from the China and Korea and sold them for ?80 each or more.
He contacted potential customers via internet forums and had his own website for selling the boxes.
Tailor also sold the boxes in bulk to other businesses around the country.
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Mr Hurst said Tailor organised people around the country to assist in setting up the network so the service was available nationally.
It was set up to communicate with servers overseas which then allowed owners of the set top boxes in England to receive the channels via the internet without paying a subscription to Virgin Media.
He said: "Tailor and his employees installed licenced software on the set top boxes to activate them.
"He installed, either personally or through agents or co-defendants servers in seven homes around the UK, four in Leicester, one in Coventry, one in Bristol and one in Bolton.
"They were identified over time by Virgin who installed their own receivers to watch pay TV without paying and set about identifying the server addresses.
"The loss to Virgin was in the many millions of pounds.
"The profit to Tailor was so great that on arrest he was in possession at home of ?250,000 in uncounted cash; uncounted because he didn't have the time to count it, in cash because that's the way he preferred to deal and at home because the bank had refused to take any more cash from him until he explained where it was coming from.
"The prosecution limits the benefit to Mahesh Tailor at one million pounds, as agreed in writing on the day of his guilty plea."
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During the investigation Leicestershire Police recovered a container with 5,000 set-top boxes inside, and it was believed that Tailor had already sold multiple similar consignments.
Virgin Media has previously estimated the scams caused a potential loss of ?26 million in revenue, which was disputed by Tailor's counsel.
Tailor and five other men all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud Richard Branson's company out of revenue from television subscription services, between February 2008 and April 2012.
Mahesh Tailor (51) was so successful at running the fraud that when police raided his home, they found a ?250,000 in cash.
Tailor, of Hollies Way, Thurnby, ran circuit board manufacturing company Tailor Made Circuits, in Pinfold Road, Thurmaston. He found a way to circumnavigate the encryption of cable television channels supplied by Virgin Media using illicit set top boxes.
Martin Hurst, prosecuting, said Tailor imported thousands of set-top boxes from the China and Korea and sold them for ?80 each or more.
He contacted potential customers via internet forums and had his own website for selling the boxes.
Tailor also sold the boxes in bulk to other businesses around the country.
Read more: Drug dealer jailed for three years after airport arrest
Mr Hurst said Tailor organised people around the country to assist in setting up the network so the service was available nationally.
It was set up to communicate with servers overseas which then allowed owners of the set top boxes in England to receive the channels via the internet without paying a subscription to Virgin Media.
He said: "Tailor and his employees installed licenced software on the set top boxes to activate them.
"He installed, either personally or through agents or co-defendants servers in seven homes around the UK, four in Leicester, one in Coventry, one in Bristol and one in Bolton.
"They were identified over time by Virgin who installed their own receivers to watch pay TV without paying and set about identifying the server addresses.
"The loss to Virgin was in the many millions of pounds.
"The profit to Tailor was so great that on arrest he was in possession at home of ?250,000 in uncounted cash; uncounted because he didn't have the time to count it, in cash because that's the way he preferred to deal and at home because the bank had refused to take any more cash from him until he explained where it was coming from.
"The prosecution limits the benefit to Mahesh Tailor at one million pounds, as agreed in writing on the day of his guilty plea."
Read more: Man in hospital after suspected machete attack in Belgrave, Leicester
During the investigation Leicestershire Police recovered a container with 5,000 set-top boxes inside, and it was believed that Tailor had already sold multiple similar consignments.
Virgin Media has previously estimated the scams caused a potential loss of ?26 million in revenue, which was disputed by Tailor's counsel.
Tailor and five other men all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud Richard Branson's company out of revenue from television subscription services, between February 2008 and April 2012.
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