Father and sons used 'slaves' in pirate DVD factory

A father and his two sons ran a multi-million-pound pirate DVD racket, producing hundreds of thousands of illegal copies of Hollywood blockbusters

The gang provided a "one-stop shop" for criminals across the capital and the South-East.

Khalid Asghar-Sheikh, 53, and sons Sami, 28, and Rafi, 26, created an "industrial production line" at a factory in Walthamstow using the latest computer technology.

It was the first known rogue industrial replication plant in western Europe.

The men, all from North Chingford, were being sentenced at Southwark crown court today after being convicted of piracy and money laundering.

Also facing sentence is Xin Li, 34, an illegal immigrant, who acted as a quartermaster for the family and was convicted of concealing the proceeds of crime. Police found £24,000 in his bedroom in Walthamstow.

The court heard how the gang used a workforce of Chinese illegal immigrants who had been trafficked into the UK and were kept in "virtual slavery".

The gang was caught after a parcel containing a Toyota car catalogue with 10 metal discs hidden in it, and addressed to Rafi Asghar-Sheikh, was intercepted at Stansted airport.

The discs were passed to the Federation Against Copyright Theft and found to be original master copies of films, which indicated the presence of a production plant making pirate copies.

After an extensive surveillance operation, in June 2006 police raided the plant in Walthamstow and a warehouse in Harlow, from which most of the DVDs were distributed. They also searched properties owned by the family in North Chingford, where they found £106,000 hidden in cash. Officers made 10 arrests.

Machinery was shipped through Vietnam and Hong Kong.

Detective Chief Superintendent Nigel Mawer, leading the investigation, said: "This is the result of three years' hard work and investigation into the activity of an extensive criminal network.

"Film piracy is not a victimless crime and it is crucial that the public ask themselves if they want to play a part in the exploitation of vulnerable people by buying illegal DVDs."

Fact's director-general, Kieron Sharp, said: "This was a well run and highly organised criminal enterprise with links to international crime gangs that are impacting on the livelihoods of the tens of thousands of people who work in the UK film and TV industries."