Spain’s Criminal Chamber of the National Court issued a judgment against one of the largest illegal IPTV networks for crimes against the market and consumers, intellectual property and money laundering, setting one of the largest compensations in the history of Spain for the crime against intellectual property.
The decision was announced by LaLiga, the Spanish professional football league. The piracy network illegally distributing football broadcasts, movies and series, including the contents of LALIGA, to more than two million people from servers divided into 13 countries across three continents.
The case, opened years ago after an initial complaint from Nagravision, was promoted thanks to the complaint and subsequent expansion of LALIGA, which provided decisive purchase evidence for the verification of the facts surrounding the situation. LaLiga joined with multiple companies in the judicial procedings, which included Telefonica (Movistar Plus+), Mediapro, and Egeda (Sociedad de la Información y del Comercio Electrónico).
The investigation was carried out mainly by the Central Cybercrime Unit of the Directorate General of the Spanish Judicial Police, as well as by the Intellectual Property Group, of the Central Unit of Specialized and Violent Crime (UDEV), with the support of Europol and Eurojust in international coordination.
Large judgment
The judgment sets compensation of 12 million euros for the companies injured and more than €30 million in fines for money laundering. The network, run by a ring-leader known as ‘Dash, the Iranian’, operated through channels such as rapidiptv.com, rapidiptv.net or iptvstack.com.
To launder that money, the organization resorted to payment gateways, cryptocurrency exchanges, shell companies and fake invoices. Among the operations identified are the construction of a residential building in Iran, the purchase of a property in Barcelona valued at 1.7 million and the acquisition of two high-end vehicles for 400,000 euros. The agreement includes the confiscation of all assets and funds intervened and the definitive closure of the domains.
Why it matters
“Audiovisual fraud is a scourge that threatens the survival of a fundamental industry for the European economy, such as live sport,” said Javier Tebas, president of LALIGA. “We are proud of this exemplary sanction, which shows that we must fight forcefully against piracy at all levels, especially towards the organizations and mafias behind it.”
This result demonstrates the relevance of LALIGA’s global anti-piracy strategy, which for the 2024/25 season managed to reduce piracy consumption in Spain by 60%. A set of actions that, beyond the proper judicial and operational ones with the State Security Corps and Forces, includes other pillars such as educational, institutional and technological.
Further reading
Record blow to audiovisual piracy: criminal convictions and compensation and fines against one of the largest illegal IPTV networks. Press release. April 20, 2026. LaLiga
