The three men are accused of the crimes of computer fraud and aggravated communications, possession and sale of illicit equipment and aggravated illegitimate access.

In the first statements to the court, the defendants denied having charged any money for the service, contrary to the accusation of the Public Ministry (MP).

“It was a joke. We did it, but it wasn't to make money. He didn't charge any money”, said one of the defendants, also stating that the number of users was lower than mentioned in the indictment.

Another defendant admitted that there were “one or two people who gave money to help with costs” and, despite knowing that this conduct was illegal, he said that, as it was a thing between friends, “he thought there was no stress”.

The third defendant, a computer technician, also stated that he “did not gain anything from this”, adding that he “helped a person” to join the service.

The scheme was dismantled in June 2019 during an operation by the Judiciary Police (PJ).

At the time, the PJ said that more than a hundred customers were illegitimately accessing, at the time of the police action, the protected TV signal without the national operators providing it receiving the money owed to them.

According to the investigation, the defendants charged a monthly amount of five euros, or the amount of 75 euros per year, in the case of paid sports channels.

The defendants also provided the purchase of “power boxes”, receivers capable of receiving protected TV signal content through the created system at prices ranging between 80 and 230 euros.