Two charged in federal investigation into piracy of copyrighted TV programming
Posted Sep 15, 2020 12:32:07 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Two people from Bedford have been charged after a 15 month federal investigation into the piracy of copyrighted television programming.
In June of 2019, a telecommunications company told the RCMP that someone was streaming a lot of its content through Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) for profit.
A couple of months later, Mounties searched a home on Shore Drive in Bedford. They seized electronics and financial documents, then arrested a 35-year old man. He was later released from police custody.
On Aug. 13 of this year, the RCMP filed court documents related to charges against two people in Bedford. A restrain order and special search warrant was issued on Sept. 3.
On Sept. 9, two houses and 12 plots of land were restrained and two vehicles were seized.
Riad Thomeh, 36, from Bedford has been charged with:
- Possession of a device to obtain use of telecommunication facility or service
- Laundering the proceeds of crime
- 18 counts of possession of property obtained by crime
- Distributing copyrighted material – Copyright Act
- Re-transmitting an encrypted programming signal – Radiocommunication Act
- Decoding an encrypted programming signal – Radiocommunication Act
Kayla Thomeh, 33, from Bedford, has been charged with:
- Laundering the proceeds of crime
- Possession of property obtained by crime
RCMP say three companies operated by the pair are also facing 44 charges, including possession of a device to obtain use of telecommunication facility or service, laundering the proceeds of crime and possession of property obtained by crime, along with charges under the Copyright Act and the Radiocommunication Act.
Maximum penalties for infringement of Canada’s Copyright Act are a five-year sentence, a $1-million fine, or both.
