from
(snip)According to Welt.de, the owner of Manwin Licensing International, which owns some of the most visited adult sites on the Internet including Youporn.com and Pornhub.com was arrested today at the Brussels Airport.
34-year-old Fabian Thylmann was arrested on suspicion to have evaded taxes.
According to the report, German officials seized numerous computers and documents at the offices of “Manwin Germany GmbH” last week.
Manwin along with Digital Playground sued ICM registry operator of the .XXX registry and ICANN for Anti-trust violations.
In October ICM counter-sued Manwin for $120 million dollars for “Combination or Conspiracy in Restraint of Trade”, violation of the Sherman Act and Violation of the Cartwright Act; Unfair Competition Under the Lanham Act and Tortuous Interference With Prospective Clients.
The case between Manwin and ICM is still pending in a California Federal Court.
Since filing the lawsuit Manwin Acquired Digital Playground the co-plaintiff in the ICM/ICANN case."(snip)
... and the backstory goes a little deeper ... from
(snip)"The porn industry’s Fabian Thylmann, managing partner of Manwin, the elusive Luxembourg-based adult entertainment company that was the largest single donor to the ‘No’ on Ballot Measure B campaign which sought—unsuccessfully—to block a Los Angeles County ballot measure that now requires condom use in adult film productions, was arrested last week in Belgium for suspicion of tax evasion in Germany. According to a news report on the AVN website, Thylmann “…has been taken into custody by Belgian officials on an arrest warrant issued by a German court on suspicion of tax evasion. Contrary to some news reports, AVN has learned that Thylmann was arrested late last week, reportedly at the Belgian airport.” Thylmann remains in custody in Belgium awaiting extradition to Germany to answer to the charges.
In October, officials from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) had separately complained to officials at the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) about what they believed was money laundering and illegal campaign donations made by Manwin to an United States election campaign made by a foreign company and/or foreign nationals. With over $150,000 in donations, Luxembourg-based Manwin appeared to be largest single donor to the ‘No on B’ campaign to defeat Los Angles County Ballot Measure B, the County of Los Angeles Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act, which AHF spearheaded. Measure B passed with an overwhelming margin of the voter support—57% in favor to 43% opposed. The ballot measure now requires producers of adult films to obtain a public health permit from the County, follow all health and safety laws, including condom use, and pay a permit fee to cover enforcement of the law.
“From our reading of the campaign finance filings and our own research into the issue over the past few months it appears that a foreign porn cartel—Manwin—provided the major funding for the opposition campaign to our successful condoms in porn ballot measure, something that appears to be illegal,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and one of the five named proponents of the ballot initiative. “Now, Manwin’s Thylmann is arrested in Belgium for tax evasion, the first cousin of money laundering. While we are happy that funds from Manwin did not seem to adversely affect the outcome of the Measure B election, we nevertheless urge the FEC to continue its investigation of our complaint against Manwin over what we believe are those tainted and illegal campaign contributions.”
After closely examining the ‘Recipient Committee Campaign Statements,’ legally required campaign finance reports filed with the Office of the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder/County Clerk by opponents of Ballot Measure B, the so-called ‘condoms in porn’ measure in Los Angeles County, backers of the measure from AHF and elsewhere believe that the bulk of the funding behind opposition to the measure came from Manwin. The murky origin of the funds for the donations raises serious questions about money from a foreign porn cartel possibly being directed to an election campaign in the United States—an illegal act that constitutes a felony."(snip)
I have no idea where all of this might be headed, other than the fact that Manwin has 'pissed off' the 'wrong' people ... and now has the IRS as well as european gov't tax agencies combing through corporate business records and accounts.
PS thanks to LaurenAus for the original 'catch' of this news report



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