Vietnam indicts seven over HiAnime pirate anime and film sites
At a glance
- Vietnam’s Supreme People’s Procuracy has indicted seven people accused of running the HiAnime pirate streaming network; four also face money-laundering charges.
- The sites offered 26,000 TV series and 7,500 animated films and earned 12.85 million USDT (about VND315 billion) from advertising, according to the indictment as reported.
- The case began with a May 2026 complaint on behalf of the Motion Picture Association. The Hanoi City People’s Court will hear it; no trial date has been reported.
Vietnam’s Supreme People’s Procuracy has indicted seven people accused of running HiAnime and related pirate streaming websites, the state news agency’s VietnamPlus reported on 30 October. Four of them, including the alleged initiator, Nguyễn Đình Minh Khoa, are charged with infringing copyright and related rights under Article 225 of the Criminal Code and with money laundering under Article 324. The other three face the copyright charge only. The Hanoi City People’s Procuracy will prosecute the case and the Hanoi City People’s Court will hear it. No trial date has been reported. [1], [2]
According to the indictment, as reported, the group began operating in mid-2019 and ran ad-funded sites including HiAnime, Zoro, Aniwatch, 9animetv and Sflix/Myflixerz on more than 100 domain names, offering 26,000 TV series and 7,500 animated films without permission. The defendants received 12.85 million USDT, about VND315.3 billion, from the advertising platform Propeller Ads, and the four core members split the profits equally. The indictment lists cars, houses and land bought with the proceeds. The group stopped and deleted the sites in March 2026 as enforcement stepped up. [2]
The case began with a complaint filed on 7 May 2026 with the Ministry of Public Security by a Vietnamese law firm acting for the Motion Picture Association. Police opened the case on 1 July and prosecuted seven people, four of whom were held in pre-trial detention. [1], [3]
Sources
- VietnamPlus (Vietnam News Agency). Truy tố 7 bị can sao chép trái phép hàng chục nghìn bộ phim, thu 315 tỷ đồng. Published 2026-10-30 13:13 Vietnam time. Vietnamese. Byline: Kim Anh. Accessed 31 October 2026. Working English title translation: Seven accused indicted for illegally copying tens of thousands of films, earning VND315 billion (working translation).
- Báo Bảo vệ pháp luật (Supreme People’s Procuracy newspaper). VKSND tối cao truy tố 7 bị can trong đường dây chiếu phim lậu thu hơn 315 tỉ đồng. Published 2026-10-30 11:55 Vietnam time. Vietnamese. Byline: Hồng Nguyên. Accessed 31 October 2026. Working English title translation: Supreme People’s Procuracy indicts seven accused in pirate film-streaming ring that earned over VND315 billion (working translation).
- VnEconomy. Khởi tố vụ án sao chép bất hợp pháp 26.000 bộ phim, thu lời hơn 308 tỷ đồng. Published 2026-07-02 08:33 Vietnam time. Vietnamese. Byline: VnEconomy. Accessed 31 October 2026. Working English title translation: Case opened over illegal copying of 26,000 films, earning over VND308 billion (working translation).
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