THREE men have been charged with defrauding TV giant Virgin Media of up to £40m.
The trio have been accused of importing 44,000 digital receivers which could be made to pick up channels without paying a fee to Virgin.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the boxes would be sent electronic messages from a house in Littleover which would enable them to get the channels.
Anthony Ginnivan, Melvyn Howard and Jong You appeared at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court yesterday, charged with conspiring to defraud Virgin Media of TV subscription services between February 1, 2010, and February 3 this year.
All three were arrested during a police raid at a home in Fernwood Close, Littleover, on Tuesday.
Andrea Charity, prosecuting, said the victim of the fraud was Virgin Media, which suffered a potential loss of £40m.
She said: "It is a complex fraud. Virgin Media provide digital receivers on a subscription basis in the UK."
THREE men have been charged with defrauding TV giant Virgin Media of up to £40m.
She said 44,000 of these boxes had been imported with the sole use of obtaining channels without paying.
Ginnivan, of Fernwood Close, Littleover, and Howard, of Stoney Lane, Spondon, were given bail with the condition not to contact their co-accused.
You, who gave his address as the International Hotel, Burton Road, was refused bail and remanded in custody.
All three men will appear again at Derby Crown Court on April 28.
Malcolm Davies, Virgin Media's head of fraud and security, said: "We take this matter extremely seriously and will continue to work closely with all the police forces throughout the UK to prosecute individuals.
The trio have been accused of importing 44,000 digital receivers which could be made to pick up channels without paying a fee to Virgin.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the boxes would be sent electronic messages from a house in Littleover which would enable them to get the channels.
Anthony Ginnivan, Melvyn Howard and Jong You appeared at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court yesterday, charged with conspiring to defraud Virgin Media of TV subscription services between February 1, 2010, and February 3 this year.
All three were arrested during a police raid at a home in Fernwood Close, Littleover, on Tuesday.
Andrea Charity, prosecuting, said the victim of the fraud was Virgin Media, which suffered a potential loss of £40m.
She said: "It is a complex fraud. Virgin Media provide digital receivers on a subscription basis in the UK."
THREE men have been charged with defrauding TV giant Virgin Media of up to £40m.
She said 44,000 of these boxes had been imported with the sole use of obtaining channels without paying.
Ginnivan, of Fernwood Close, Littleover, and Howard, of Stoney Lane, Spondon, were given bail with the condition not to contact their co-accused.
You, who gave his address as the International Hotel, Burton Road, was refused bail and remanded in custody.
All three men will appear again at Derby Crown Court on April 28.
Malcolm Davies, Virgin Media's head of fraud and security, said: "We take this matter extremely seriously and will continue to work closely with all the police forces throughout the UK to prosecute individuals.