Couple accused of €4.4m Sky piracy fraud in Bavaria
An elderly couple in Bavaria – Sergej M. (68), an electromechanic, and his wife Valentina (70), a shop assistant – are on trial in Landshut for computer fraud over alleged large-scale piracy of Sky Deutschland. They are accused of operating a system of “hacked” or manipulated Sky receivers (“Russian receivers”) and selling them between 2014 and 2019, defrauding Sky of around €4.4 million across 4,611 cases. The scheme allowed buyers to access Sky’s pay-TV content without proper subscription payment.
