A father and his two sons who kept dozens of Chinese workers in virtual slavery to run Britain's biggest DVD piracy operation were jailed for a total of 16 years today.
Khalid Sheikh, 53, and sons Rafi, 26, and Sami, 28, of Walthamstow, "hid beneath a veneer of respectability", using their previously legitimate business selling DVD accessories as a front, as they made up to £7m from the three-year scam.
They used industrial equipment imported from the far east to burn box-office hits such as Ice Age 2, The Da Vinci Code and Iron Man and sold them for £3 on street corners, sometimes even before their cinematic release.
The family, who claimed housing benefit, supplemented their already multimillion-pound turnover by copying so many porn and bestiality films some sex shops were driven out of business.
They used their profits on luxury cars and first-class flights around the world but police believe much of the money has been smuggled out of the country.
Southwark crown court heard how, after two years of operating out of a small shop in Walthamstow, east London, the fraudsters were able to buy a £658,000 warehouse headquarters in Essex. They farmed their business out to a string of "factories" or semi-detached houses, staffed by largely illegal Chinese immigrants.
John Hardy, QC, prosecuting, told the court they "worked round the clock in conditions of virtual slavery".
All three were previously found guilty of conspiracy to acquire criminal property, while the brothers were also convicted of conspiracy to break the Copyright Act and conspiracy to break the Trademarks Act.
The brothers were each jailed for six years while their father was jailed for four.
Sentencing, Judge Martin Beddoe told Khalid Sheikh: "What I find really distasteful is you corrupted and exploited your children for your own financial interests." The judge told the brothers they were "motivated by greed and selfish interest".
After the case, Detective Superintendent Russell Day, of the Met's film piracy unit, said three years of hard work and investigation had resulted in the dismantling of "an extensive criminal network".
