Twelve people, including four in Ireland, have been arrested and accounts containing more than €1m have been seized as part of a Europe-wide operation targeting websites selling fake goods.
More than 33,600 internet domains selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals, pirated films, television shows, music, software, electronics and other bogus products were taken down.
The international operation was coordinated by Europol’s Intellectual Property Crime Coordinated Coalition and involved the US National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center as well as law enforcement authorities from 26 other countries including Ireland.
This is the ninth time the global operation has been run and has seen a dramatic increase in the number of domains shut down.
Several bank accounts were also identified and more than €1m was frozen.
Online payment platforms and a virtual currency farm used by the organised criminal groups were also frozen.
Four of the twelve arrested were detained in Ireland in September.
The two men and two women were arrested for offences under the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000, and the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act, 2010 after properties in Crumlin and Ashbourne.
Gardaí say the investigation is ongoing and that no charges have been brought to date.
Six bank accounts and two credit union accounts were identified by Gardaí as part of this operation. The accounts containing €84,000 in total have been frozen.
In addition, nine third party payment accounts were also identified and ‘limited’. It has been established that over €700,000 in total was paid into these accounts in the last 3 years.
