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The Spanish National Court recently sentenced the leader of a massive illegal sports streaming ring to 23 months in prison and a US$10.2 million fine, ending an eight-year international investigation into the multi-million dollar piracy empire.
The ringleader, known as "Dash, The Iranian," operated a sophisticated criminal network primarily from Spain that provided thousands of pirated entertainment and sports websites to about two million users, using domains like IPTVStack and RapidIPTV. His real identity remains secret in court documents.
The illegal organization generated over $17 million in revenue between 2015 and 2020, according to The Athletic.
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Four Rolex watches worth approximately $60,000 were found by police in an Barcelona apartment belonging to a man nicknamed "Dash, the Iranian," who is identified as the leader of an international illegal sports streaming ring. Photo by ACE |
The Iranian national, together with four other defendants, pleaded guilty on April 15 to intellectual property infringement and money laundering to receive lighter sentences. Total fines and damages related to pirated material, including the Premier League and Champions League, reached $23 million.
The illegal business had two branches: The technical side, partly in Iran, stole broadcast signals and redistributed them through servers in over 10 countries. The financial side in Spain created shell companies to launder the money.
Using shell companies in Belize and Spain, the IPTV network exploited informal money transfer systems like Hawala and Sarraf. The money also flowed through Luxembourg, using fake addresses in Dubai and the UAE.
The network used a franchise model, allowing middlemen to profit from their own IPTV services.
Investigation, with coordination help from The Alliance for Creative Entertainment (ACE), which represents over 50 global media corporations, found the group had used fake identities to open bank accounts and launder money through expensive real estate and over 1,000 Bitcoin.
Investigators found no direct link to the Iranian government despite the money flowing into projects in the country.
The kingpin and his uncharged younger brother planned to build a $4.7 million residential complex with five apartments in Tehran, Iran.
Investigators also searched 15 properties and arrested 11 people across Spain, Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
At a $2 million apartment in Barcelona, police seized a $200,000 Mercedes AMG G-Wagon, a $135,000 AMG GT S, four Rolex watches worth $60,000, and many stacks of 100-euro bills hidden under mattresses during a raid conducted with Europol in June 2020, according to Fox News.
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Two Mercedes vehicles, an AMG G-Wagon and an AMG GT S, that police seized from "Dash, the Iranian". Photo by ACE |
Spanish national police chief inspector Jose Luis Gomez Pidal called the verdict a landmark ruling against international piracy, exposing the operating mechanism of illegal streaming networks.
La Liga president Javier Tebas welcomed the result. He called broadcast theft a threat to the industry and emphasized that copyright infringement must be combated at all levels, especially against the organizations and mafia gangs behind it.
A 2025 investigation by The Athletic warned about the booming culture of illegal sports streaming. A survey showed 47% of readers admitted to watching football via illegal streams.
