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  1. #1
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    OMI IN A HELLCAT: Indictment For Gears Reloaded IPTV Imminent

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    Omar Carrasquillo, aka OMI IN A HELLCAT, says he's about to be indicted for offenses related to his pirate IPTV service Gears Reloaded. Carrasquillo was raided in November 2019 by FBI and IRS agents, who seized millions in cash and a fleet of luxury cars. The Gears founder says he's expecting to be charged with tax evasion and money laundering offenses in a matter of weeks.After years of operating with relative impunity in the United States, pirate IPTV services offering restreams of live TV felt they were untouchable due to an apparent loophole in the law.Copyright holders worked hard to have the law tightened up and in December 2020, Congress passed a bill to criminalize streaming piracy services. Titled the ‘Protecting Lawful Streaming Act of 2020’, the legislation now allows law enforcement to prosecute pirate streaming services as a felony, not just a misdemeanor.While this change drew an important line in the sand, law enforcement action in November 2019 showed that where there is a will to bring someone down, there’s probably a law already available to do so.

    Massive Raids Target OMI IN A HELLCAT
    Omar Carrasquillo is better known by his YouTube handle OMI IN A HELLCAT and as the operator of the now-defunct pirate IPTV service Gears Reloaded. After providing solid service to large numbers of subscribers, around November 20, 2019, the service went offline showing a “down for maintenance” message. In reality, the position was much more serious than that.Following raids by FBI and IRS agents, Carrasquillo had to stand by while a fleet of luxury supercars and millions in cash and jewelry were seized by the authorities.“This is Napster 2.0. This wasn’t killing anybody. If anything I saved hundreds of thousands of people [with] cheaper cable. IPTV is not illegal in the US. It isn’t. It isn’t. It’s illegal in other countries but it’s not illegal in the US,” he said at the time.

    Death and Taxes
    Just over a week after the raid and Carrasquillo began to further home in on what he believed was the reason for the action against him and Gears. The YouTuber had been generating huge money from his Gears service but for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, had failed to properly file and pay his taxes.He said that he’d hoped to catch up by paying around $2m and the rest in installments but the raids derailed all of that.Carrasquillo later claimed that the FBI seized “at least” $5.2m from his bank accounts. Court documents also showed the scale of the physical seizures, with a laundry list of cars and other vehicles detailed by the US authorities.

    Carrasquillo Says He Had Accountant Problems
    For months Carrasquillo has continued to release videos on YouTube but has mostly refrained from mentioning the case against him in much detail. That changed earlier today when he explained why he hasn’t been posting ‘fun’ videos as he had done in the past.“The reason why is the whole FBI situation. Yes, it’s been two years ago since they took over 30+ cars, took millions of dollars out of my account, for something that wasn’t illegal. Now it seems like they are trying to tack on money laundering charges, tax evasion charges. I’ve kind of been depressed about it,” he said.“Did I money launder? No. All the money that I’ve ever gotten went into one account into the other, unless I sold something and then I have to claim that. But did I go out of my way to launder money through criminal enterprises or fund drugs? Never. It kind of hurts me, man, because I never thought there would be a day when I would ever be in trouble with the law again.”Carrasquillo says that in 2018 he was “backed up” from 2016 and 2017 to do his taxes but due to problems with his accountants, less money was reported than he had actually earned. He says he tried to fix this by writing a check. In 2019, Carrasquillo says he hired a new accountant who asked him to transfer $4m into his account to be held in escrow. However, the Gears founder says he didn’t understand why.

    Carrasquillo Believed He Was Acting Legally
    Carrasquillo says he now knows that FBI agents had been watching him for two years but at no point did he feel their presence in his life.“I had nothing to hide, I was just living my life as a wealthy man who happened to get into a business that was…yes…it was a gray area,” he said.The Gears founder said that in 2017/2018 when he went to see his lawyer and spoke about his business practices, he raised the question of streaming.“There’s a lot of things are going on in the streaming world, a lot of dudes are been getting in trouble,” he reportedly told his lawyer, noting that these people “do movies” and he wasn’t into that.This appears to be a reference to other pirate IPTV services that offering VOD content and catchup services and ended up in trouble with the Motion Picture Association (MPA). Carrasquillo says he never received a cease-and-desist from anyone other than Sky Sports in the UK, whose content he eventually took down. He suggests that anyone with a problem over what was being offered should have given him a chance to respond, but that was never given.“Anything that the government had in place to give me a chance, they never gave me those chances. I never received a cease-and-desist, I’ve never got anything of that sort. They didn’t even go through the process correctly with me,” he adds.

    Carrasquillo Now Says Indictment is Imminent
    Noting that he’s reached out to the IRS to pay his taxes, Carrasquillo says they simply insist that he’s been evading taxes. As a result, he’s now facing formal charges that should be filed in the next few weeks.“I’m not an idiot…but when all this is said, I’m being indicted – July to August. I’m being indicted. And it’s f****d up man. I’m glad in one way that this is going to be put behind me….but I just wish they would be fair with me and at least give me a chance to pay them what they think I owe them.“One minute they say ‘Hey, you obtained this money illegally, so you shouldn’t have had it in the first place’. And then part two says: ‘Ok, if I shouldn’t have had it in the first place, then how do I owe you taxes on it?’ I just don’t understand.”

  2. #2
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    OMI IN A HELLCAT Denies Copyright Crimes, Demands Cars & Millions Back
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    Former Gears IPTV operator OMI IN A HELLCAT is fighting the US Government over the seizure of a fleet of supercars, jewelry, and millions of dollars in cash. The YouTuber has informed a Pennsylvania court that he has committed no crimes and his business activities were entirely legal. As a result, all of his assets should be returned, he argues.In November 2019, dozens of FBI and IRS agents shut down a pirate IPTV service operated by YouTuber OMI IN A HELLCAT, real name Bill Omar Carrasquillo.The authorities also seized a huge fleet of supercars, jewelry, and in excess of $5.2m in cash from a personal account. Those assets are now subject to a civil forfeiture process initiated by the United States Government.It’s alleged that Carrasquillo and his business partners operated IPTV services variously branded as Gears, Reloaded, and Gears Reloaded, selling access to television, movies and sports content without authorization or license.“Gears TV and its related entities received tens of millions of dollars in revenue, i.e., proceeds, during the period of time in which the enterprise operated the illegal video content service,” the US Government complaint reads.Ever since the raid, Carrasquillo has insisted that his services operated legally, or at least within a legal gray area. To that end, he’s now asking a US court to return all of the seized assets.

    Answer to US Government Complaint
    As far as we’re aware, the US Government has not yet indicted Carrasquillo for copyright infringement, money laundering, and tax evasion offenses. He recently predicted that could be a matter of weeks away but in advance of that, the active YouTuber is continuing to protest his innocence.In an answer to the complaint that aims to seize his assets, Carrasquillo addresses dozens of claims raised by the US Government, mostly insisting that they are “legal conclusions” to which no responsive pleading is required. As a result, he denies most of the key allegations.Addressing more than $5.2m seized from a single personal bank account, in excess of $1.6m seized from various Gears-related accounts, and around 57 vehicles, including several Lamborghinis and a Bentley Continental GT, Carrasquillo says that since no crimes were committed, none of these items should have been seized.He specifically denies committing criminal copyright infringement (17 U.S.C. § 506 or 18 U.S.C. § 2319), including infringement for commercial advantage or private financial gain, the reproduction of one or more copyrighted works worth more than $1,000, and/or the distribution via a computer network of a work being prepared for commercial release.“It is denied that the Defendant Property is subject to forfeiture because it was used, in any manner or part to commit or facilitate the commission of violations of 17 U.S.C. §506 and/or 18 U.S.C. §2319, it is further denied that the Defendant Property is property constituting or derived from proceeds obtained directly or indirectly as a result of the commission of violations of the statutes named,” the answer reads.

    Carrasquillo’s Denials Continue
    Addressing a list of allegations that indicate that Carrasquillo was involved in a large pirate IPTV operation that utilized ancillary companies and payment processors to stay in business, the YouTuber either denies in full, denies that the allegations “are true and correct”, or claims insufficient knowledge to form a belief whether they are true or not.This response format continues throughout much of the answer, with the ultimate conclusion that the seized property is not subject to forfeiture because it was not connected to monetary transactions derived from unlawful activity, including breaches of the Copyright Act.“Claimant Carrasquillo respectfully requests that this Court enter a judgment in his favor and against the United States of America with regard to the seized property as set forth herein, returning it to Claimant,” the answer concludes, demanding a trial by jury.

  3. #3
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    Pirate IPTV: Omi in a Hellcat Rejects Feds’ Suggestion of 210 Months in Prison
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    Bill Omar Carrasquillo, aka Omi in a Hellcat, has revealed that the US Government wants to put him behind bars for alleged crimes related to his Gears IPTV service. According to Carrasquillo, pre-indictment discussions indicate that the feds could seek 210 months in prison for criminal copyright infringement, money laundering and tax evasion.

    After raids in November 2019 that shuttered his Gears-branded IPTV services, Bill Omar Carrasquillo (Omi in a Hellcat) is inching closer to discovering his fate at the hands of the federal government.As previously reported, IRS and FBI agents seized “at least” $5.2m from his bank accounts along with a laundry list of supercars and other vehicles, alleged to have been purchased with ill-gotten gains.

    At the time of writing, a civil process to officially take possession of Carrasquillo’s seized assets is underway but he is yet to be officially indicted. When that will happen remains unclear but Carrasquillo is now shining more light on the process.

    Discussions Underway With US Government
    In a series of new interviews with YouTube channel ‘Say Cheese!“, Carrasquillo talks openly about matters that aren’t usually for public consumption, including the basics of discussions with the government that may lead to some kind of deal.

    “My lawyers went in but God willing, everything turns out good and positive. If it got to be a quick in-and-out [of prison] hopefully I can continue. Because at the end of the day, to me it’s more about the restitution I owe,” Carrasquillo says.

    “There’s gonna be a lot of money. Me sitting in there for too long it’s going to cancel out their restitution I gotta pay back. More important to me is paying back their restitution. It’s gonna be eight figures of course. Over eight – pushing nine.”

    Big Money, Long Time in Prison
    While Carrasquillo seems keen to pay what he owes, the starting point for the discussions appears to have centered around a proposal for an extremely long time in prison – wowards two decades in fact.

    “They went through the whole thing it was like 210 months [in prison]. And my lawyer is like, man, it doesn’t make any sense. If you look at anybody who’s been through the same type of situation that I’ve been through – it is not scamming, it was more of a copyright infringement case that turned into ‘Oh ****, you didn’t pay your taxes’ – you know, tax evasion. But now they’re just trying to bend it – it’s a long story,” he says.

    “I said, if we can get that **** all the way down, to where I can pay them and work it out somehow on the back end, I’ll do that but I can’t take [210 months in prison]. Listen, if we can get down to that number, I’ll take it gladly.”

    According to the interviewer, that number is two years in prison, something confirmed by Carrasquillo. But that would be accompanied by another problem – the feds taking everything.

    The Feds Want to Keep Everything
    “Everything. Like all the cars. The money. Things that they already seized. It is what it is, I’ve been living without it already,” Carrasquillo says with a shrug.

    “But at the end of the day, I feel that I’m taking it just to get it over with. But I have no problem fighting this **** at trial because I know for a fact that nothing I did was illegal.”

    Time and again, Carrasquillo has insisted he committed no crimes, although he has previously admitted that not paying his taxes was a mistake. After the money started rolling in, he says he took the time to consult a lawyer who assured him that he was not breaking the law.

    “[The attorney] is going to come and testify later on in court but it feels like damn, he should’ve had my back a bit more because I did confide in counsel. I was ready to give it up because i’d seen people starting to get in trouble in that field but what they were doing was movies,” he says.

    “I had a little app that did movies that was 100% free, I never profited off it. And when I see that people were getting cracked I turned it off immediately saying, ‘I don’t want no problems’. So when I went to the lawyer he said you’re not doing anything illegal so two years later when they come knocking on my door. I didn’t even see these people following me. I had no hints whatsoever. These m***** f****** are good.”

    Chances of Winning at Trial – 50/50
    While Carrasquillo says that he’s prepared to go to trial if necessary, he rates his chances of winning at no more than 50/50. He believes that the accusations of criminal copyright infringement are false, which means that the money-laundering accusations are on thin ice too. He does, however, acknowledge issues with his taxes.

    “There’s an argument either side, I feel like this is a coin toss, [a trial] can go either way. I feel that what I did wasn’t against the law, honestly, but at the end of the day my kids…I just want to get this **** over with, come back, pay my debt to society. It is what it is.”

    At the moment Omi has one lawyer working on his case but he wants to hire entire firms. He says that people who’ve looked at the case are strongly advising him to take the trial but for his kids’ sake, he really wants to get it over with so he can move on. However, he won’t be seeking the benefits of a 5K motion.

    This type of motion is filed by a prosecutor under §5K1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines indicating via letter to the court that the defendant has cooperated. Carrasquillo says he wants no part in that.

    “What I did was what I did. It got nothing to do with other people,” he says. “The investigation kept going and going until I left the window open for taxes. I left a couple of things open for them. We’re quick to blame them, ‘Oh f*** the feds’ but in reality, we f*** ourselves over.”

  4. #4
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    Grand Jury Charges ‘Omi in a Hellcat’ With Conspiracy to Pirate Xfinity & Spectrum TV Services
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    A just unsealed grand jury indictment places YouTuber Bill Omar Carrasquillo (Omi in a Hellcat) and two other men at the heart of a massive conspiracy to illegally obtain Comcast, Verizon, Charter and other TV services' content and distribute it to the public via several Gears-branded pirate IPTV services. According to the US government, the defendants made at least $34m.A little under two years ago, the federal government shut down Gears-branded IPTV services operated by Bill Omar Carrasquillo (aka Omi in a Hellcat).IRS and FBI agents seized “at least” $5.2m from his bank accounts along with a laundry list of supercars and other vehicles, alleged to have been purchased with revenues from Carrasquillo’s TV services.As the government works to take possession of those assets in a civil process, the long-awaited criminal indictment has now landed. Unsealed last evening, it attempts to drive a coach and horses through Carrasquillo’s claim that his services operated in a legal gray area.

    Grand Jury Indictment – Copyright Infringement
    The indictment begins by naming Carrasquillo (‘Omar,’ ‘Omi,’ ‘Target,’ and ‘Target1080p’) of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Jesse Gonzales (aka ‘Wulfy’) of California, and Michael Barone of New York as defendants. It also references a currently anonymous ‘Person 1’ as a co-conspirator.It’s alleged that for more than three years, the named defendants and others ran a ‘video content delivery service’ variously branded as Reboot, Gears TV, Reloaded and Gears Reloaded. They also operated a content library called Streams R Us (SRU) containing movies and other content.“The Infringing Service delivered Video Content, including television shows and movies, to subscribers to the Infringing Service, in exchange for payment,” it reads.It’s claimed that the defendants conspired to fraudulently obtain content from major video content providers including Comcast’s Xfinity, Verizon, Charter’s Spectrum, DirecTV and Frontier Communications. This was achieved by subscribing to their residential cable television services in a variety of locations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, California and New York.

    Criminal Violations of the DMCA
    In order to capture the providers’ content, the defendants allegedly imported devices from China designed to strip High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) including at least seven 16-port encoders. The content was then transmitted over the Internet and copied to computer servers controlled by the defendants, some of it for subscribers’ time-shifted consumption.“[The defendants and Person 1] did willfully, and for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain, circumvent and attempt to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to one or more works protected under Title 17 of the United States Code, namely, audiovisual television and movie programming offered by the Video Content Providers, and others,” the indictment states, citing criminal violations of the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions.“[The defendants] and other conspirators did not at any point seek or obtain authorization from the copyright holders or licensees to transmit, copy, or stream the Video Content [and at no point did they] disclose to the Video Content Providers that, in signing up for residential services at multiple locations’ they intended to copy, transmit, and stream the Video Content to thousands of their own subscribers.”A sample of the works allegedly copied include Steve Jobs, Man of Steel, Game of Thrones, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Shameless and The Walking Dead. The copying of these works and more constitute criminal violations of copyright law under 17 U.S. Code § 506 and 18 U.S. Code § 2319, which can carry a sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment.

    Pirate Services Generated $30 Million in Subscriber Fees
    In order to market the pirate services to the masses, it’s alleged that the defendants utilized a YouTube channel called ‘TARGETIN1080p’ while administrative interactions between the defendants and their subscribers took place on social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Discord and Google Hangouts.The indictment claims that in total, the defendants received more than $30m in subscriber fees through merchant processing accounts at Stripe, BOAMS, EMS, Nuvei and Worldpay, among others. These accounts were allegedly obtained by making false declarations to the processors and in some cases their banking partners in respect of the nature of the IPTV services and the identities of their owners.

    Fraudulent Documents, Fraudulent Tax Returns
    It has been known for some time that tax issues form a major part of the case against Carrasquillo and the indictment makes that clear with its claims against the YouTuber. It states that Carrasquillo, Gonzales and others submitted fraudulent documents, including false tax returns.Gonzales also filed a fraudulent ‘Business Portfolio Purchase Agreement’ that claimed to show that he provided Carrasquillo with an “online customer base with web hosting capabilities” in exchange for $3 million and 24 monthly payments of $50,000.According to the US government, the defendants “misrepresented, concealed, and hid, caused to be misrepresented’ concealed and hidden’ and attempted to misrepresent, conceal and hide the actions done in furtherance of the conspiracy.”

    Indictment Demands Asset Forfeiture
    The charges against the defendants reads as follows:

    Conspiracy to defraud the United States (18 U.S. Code § 371), circumvention of copyright protection systems (17 U.S. Code § 1201), reproduction of a protected work (17 U.S. Code § 106 and 18 U.S. Code § 2319), public performance of a protected work (17 U.S. Code § 106 and 18 U.S. Code § 2319), access device fraud (18 U.S. Code § 1029), wire fraud, false statements to a bank, engaging in monetary transactions from unlawful activity, false statements, removal of property to prevent seizure and tax evasion.The indictment asks the court to order forfeiture of any and all property resulting from the offenses listed above including (but not limited to) the sum of $34,826,402.00.The amount includes items seized by the government thus far, including a fleet of luxury cars and various sums seized from banking and similar accounts. The indictment also demands forfeiture of 52 items of real estate in the Philadelphia area.

    Update: A video of Carrasquillo being arrested by FBI agents a few hours ago has now appeared on YouTube.
    Update2: The Department of Justice has just announced that if convicted, Carrasquillo faces a maximum possible sentence of 514 years in prison, Gonzales 244 years in prison, and Barone 130 years in prison.

    “You can’t just go and monetize someone else’s copyrighted content with impunity,” says Bradley S. Benavides, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “That’s the whole point of securing a copyright. Theft is theft, and if you’re going to willfully steal another party’s intellectual property, the FBI stands ready to step in and shut you down.”

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