The world's biggest bootlegger Mark Purseglove, has been jailed for a least 3 and a half years after making £15m pounds through bootlegging concerts during the past 11 years. Purseglove had all his bootlegged cd's professionally printed and sold them in places such as festivals, music shops and online via his business contacts around the world. The money he made from his crimes helped fund his lavish lifestyle of designer clovers, expensive cars and various homes.
His bootlegged discs were sold under labels such as Criminal Records, Wanted Man, Masquerade and Not Guilty from December 1991 to June 2002. He would produce professional catalogues to be sent onto his various clients around the world, music recordings were usually done by sound engineers and concert goers who were paid to do this. The copies that cost less than £1 to make were sold for 15 times that price, which quickly made him a multi millionaire. He and other master bootleggers were caught in 1997 by the FBI who setup a classic sting operation in which he and others were offered an all expenses paid trip to Disneyland as well as the promise of all the women they could handle.
The judge said Purseglove had been undeterred by lawsuits, injunctions and brushes with law and a lengthy prison sentence was required to punish him and deter others. The judge said an additional 5 years would be added to his sentence if he didn't pay around £2 million in damages by the end of March next year. A spokesman for the BPI said "We have been after him for 13 years and he has been a thorn in our side throughout that time."
| The world's "biggest bootlegger" who ripped off some of entertainment's biggest names, has been jailed. Mark For at least 11 years he used illicit recordings made by sound engineers and concertgoers to create counterfeit CDs. Oasis, the Beatles, Eminem, Madonna and the Rolling Stones were among the hundreds of artists targeted. Purseglove, who lived in a £530,000 flat in Chelsea, west London, got professionally printed covers put on his illegal CDs and sold them at music festivals, shops and online with the help of a worldwide business contacts network, the court heard. His crimes funded a luxury lifestyle of designer clothes, expensive cars, homes and holidays. The discs were sold between December 1991 and June 2002 under record company labels such as Criminal Records, Wanted Man, Masquerade and Not Guilty. Earlier prosecutor David Groome has told the court Purseglove sold recordings by every well-known artist in the world. He regularly printed off impressive colour catalogues and sent them to clients across the globe. Recordings were made by concert goers and sound engineers, paid to supply unauthorised tapes. 1,500% profits Copies that cost less than a pound to produce were sold for an average of 15 times that amount and 1,500% profits made Purseglove a multi-millionaire. In 1997, the FBI set up a classic sting operation for him and other bootleggers, taking them on an all expenses-paid trip to Disneyland with the promise of as many women as they could handle. In court he remained emotionless as Judge Timothy Pontius told him it was clear his "large-scale criminal enterprise" had "reaped very considerable financial rewards from the manufacture, importation and sale of illicit CDs". "This enterprise is by far the largest and therefore the most serious of its particular kind to come before the courts," he said. "Very large numbers of illicit CDs were produced and sold over the years with significant potential loss. "Not only to recording companies but also to performers and composers."
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Full story over at The BBC. Funny, the record lables he created describe
him perfectly- Criminal Records, Wanted Man, these are both of what he was. I dont think he will be making many CD's where he is going and I doubt he will do it again.
Source: BBC
