FRAUDSTERS based in Bagshot have been ordered to repay nearly £1 million in a scam targeted at Premier League football TV.

Leon Passlow, of Broomfield Park in Sunningdale, was ordered to pay back £992,947.60 for conspiracy to commit fraud between January 2008 and September 2012, along with Simon Hopkins of Stoke Poges.

The pair, who were told to return the money at Guildford Crown Court on Friday September 30, carried out the scam which defrauded broadcaster BSkyB, which has the rights to the coverage of Premier League football.

Passlow, 58, and Hopkins, 47, ran Digicam International Ltd (DIL) in Bagshot which obtained hundreds of BSkyB cards under hundreds of fake names in the hope the scam would go unnoticed.

The domestic use only cards were illegally sold on to commercial premises, including pubs, betting shops and yachts.

An investigation was launched in May 2012 after the Football Association Premier League (FAPL), which runs the competition, received complaints about DIL.

The fraudsters, who advertised their services on the Internet, had warned subscribers to not contact the broadcaster directly as this would "kill your subscription".

The defendants' homes were searched in September 2012 where payslips and paperwork found showed DIL had a turnover of almost £2 million a year.

Investigators also combed the company's base in Bagshot High Street, which had signs on the walls warning that legal action would be taken against anybody associated with the FAPL or the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) who entered the property.

Kieron Sharp, FACT director general, said: “Hopkins and Passlow made hundreds of thousands of pounds through their criminal enterprise, allowing them to live lavish lifestyles and believing they would never get caught.

“The court has confiscated £992,000 of their criminal funds and the pair are already serving lengthy sentences in prison. This should serve as a strong warning that ultimately intellectual property crime does not pay.”

A Premier League spokesman added: “This case provides further evidence that companies and individuals which illegally supply Premier League football to pubs and commercial premises risk jail time for doing so.

“Injunctions and significant costs awards are regularly being made in the Premier League’s favour in the courts, and several suppliers have been jailed for illegally making systems available to commercial premises.

“We would advise the owners and operators of hotels, pubs, betting shops and other premises interested in broadcasting Premier League football to contact Sky Sports and BT Sport, as they are the only broadcasters authorised to do so in this country.”

Both men were jailed in August 2015 for three and a half years.

They will have to serve another six years behind bars if they do not pay the money back by January 3, 2017.