Members of Team Xecuter, a console hacking and piracy group, were recently arrested and charged with fraud. The members were arrested in the Dominican Republic.
The arrested members include Canadian national Gary Bowser, who is believed to be the leader of Team Xecuter, and Max Louarn, who is originally from France.
This isn’t the first time Bowser and his group has appeared on the radar. Back in May, Nintendo slapped the group with two lawsuits, for selling pirated Switch titles via a site called UberChips. Nintendo also accused Bowser of using an unauthorised operating system that enabled him to successfully hack into the system.
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Unsurprisingly, Nintendo has also gone after ROM sites that distribute ripped game files from its library and hacking tools, with something akin to religious fervour.
If convicted, both Bowser and Louarn could end up in prison for a long time. As it stands, they could be looking at 20 years for each charge, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and the conspiracy to commit money laundering, among other cases. No trial date has been set, and it remains to be seen if both men will be extradited to the US to be sentenced, although it does seem that this would be the most likely outcome.
(Source: The Verge)
