A man has been sentenced to two years for selling illegal Amazon TV firesticks, raking in over £108,000 from unsuspecting customers.
London: So, there’s this guy named Sunny Kanda who got himself into a heap of trouble. He was running a Facebook group where folks could watch all sorts of premium TV and streaming services without paying a dime. Sounds tempting, right? But it landed him in jail for two years.
He made a whopping £108,000 by selling these modified Amazon TV firesticks that let people access channels like Sky Sports and Netflix without any subscriptions. The court found out he had been at it for about 18 months before getting caught.
When the authorities finally caught up with him, his group had nearly 4,000 members. His lawyer tried to paint him as a good guy who just made a mistake, but the judge wasn’t having it. Kanda knew he was breaking copyright laws and kept going anyway.
As he was sentenced, his fiancée was in the courtroom, and it must have been tough for her to watch. He’s also facing a hearing later this year where they’ll try to take back all the money he made from this illegal gig.
Interestingly, Kanda didn’t start the Facebook group but took it over in early 2022. He was paying off the previous leader and even someone higher up to keep the operation running. By the end, he had made nearly 1,840 transactions, all while keeping it under the radar from the taxman.
He did cooperate with the authorities, giving them names of others involved, and he expressed regret for his actions. But the spokesperson for National Trading Standards made it clear that this kind of piracy hurts the entertainment industry and puts consumers at risk. It’s a solid reminder that crime doesn’t pay!
