Authorities prosecute the mastermind behind a massive illegal movie streaming website in Vietnam.

On November 9th, the Hanoi City Police announced that they have initiated a criminal case and indicted Phan Thanh Cong and Nguyen Tuan Anh (both born in 1990, residing in Ha Dong district) for infringing on copyright and related rights.

Previously, the Economic Police Department of Hanoi City Police received information that the website Fmovies, which attracted over 6.7 billion visits in the first six months of 2024, was infringing on copyright and related rights of films belonging to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPA). Therefore, the police conducted an investigation to clarify the matter.

Through discussions with representatives from several US security and related agencies, the police determined that the Fmovies website system contains nearly 50,000 films showing signs of copyright and related rights infringement, including many films protected by the MPA; the Fmovies website system is illegally showing MPA films to users worldwide…

The police are urgently implementing investigative measures to identify the information and backgrounds of the perpetrators, while simultaneously gathering documents and evidence to clarify their methods and tactics, as well as the role of each individual.

Through this investigation, the police identified Phan Thanh Cong (who had previously been administratively penalized for similar offenses) as the mastermind, leader, creator, operator, and manager of the Fmovies website system; Nguyen Tuan Anh played a supporting role in illegally copying and uploading MPA films to the Fmovies website and its satellite sites.

From 2016 to August 2024, the suspects committed crimes and illegally profited hundreds of thousands of USD.

At the investigative agency, the suspects confessed to all their criminal acts.