MAN ADMITS TO SELLING MORE THAN $300K WORTH OF COUNTERFEIT MOVIES, TV SHOWS. HERE'S SOME OF THE DVD TITLES HE SHIPPED.
A Maryland man peddled more than $300,000 worth of counterfeit DVDs and television shows online, including popular Disney titles.
Now the man, Olayinka Wahab, 45, faces five years in prison after pleading guilty to copyright infringement. His plea was announced last week by federal officials.
A judge will sentence Wahab at a later date.
In 2017, representatives from the Motion Picture Association identified a seller, identified as Wahab, on the internet offering DVDs at a discount. The association bought several counterfeit movies and the packaging was "indistinguishable" from those on legitimate copes, federal prosecutors said.
Records showed Wahab made more than 10,000 sales of DVD of Blue-Ray discs of popular movies, TV shows and fitness programs between August 2016 and April 2018, according to federal prosecutors.
Undercover police then bought several titles from Wahab including, "Beauty and the Beast,” “The Walking Dead,” “Grimm,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Peter Pan,” “The Lion King,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “The Fate of the Furious” and “Finding Dory," according to prosecutors.
Motion Picture Association reps confirmed the DVDs were counterfeit.
Police searched Wahab home and found two laptops, cell phones, printers and 589 counterfeit DVDs, according to federal prosecutors.
Wahab said he bought the counterfeit DVDs from China because the prices were much lower than normal prices, prosecutors said.
As part of his plea, Wahab agreed to give up the items found in his home, $20,000 and bitcoin accounts. He also agreed to pay restitution to the movie companies for their losses. That exact figure will be determined by the court.
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