The FBI has launched a criminal investigation into Montreal pornography giant MindGeek and now believes the company has evidence of its involvement in illegal financial transactions involving the proceeds of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, according to new filings in a U.S. court Court documents show.
Posted at 10:52 p.m.
La Presse was able to view the Brooklyn federal court file and confirm the news, which was first reported on Thursday evening by a journalist from the trade publication The Logic. This criminal investigation had never before been made public.
According to documents filed in a US court, negotiations are currently taking place between the Canadian porn giant (now renamed Aylo) and US federal prosecutors to avoid criminal proceedings.
The procedure used is in line with the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (APS), which allows a company to admit its wrongdoing, explain the facts and pay a penalty, but avoid a criminal conviction.
To initiate this process, the FBI must be confident that it has the necessary elements to bring charges. To benefit from such an agreement, a company must also demonstrate a willingness to change the way it operates.
“We will not be commenting on the status of this matter at this time,” Sarah Bain, vice-president in charge of public engagement at Ethical Capital Partners, the Canadian investment fund that bought MindGeek, told La Presse last March.
A broken life
It was a civil lawsuit filed in the United States against Aylo/MindGeek, the owner of the Pornhub, YouPorn and Redtube websites, which revealed to the world the criminal investigation against the Canadian company.
The woman behind the lawsuit, Kristy Althaus, is a former beauty pageant contestant who once won an award at the Miss Teen Colorado pageant. To protect her privacy, she has now changed her name, but the court proceedings were conducted under her name at the time.
The plaintiff claims that in 2013, at the age of 18, she responded to a classified ad for a modeling contract. She claims she was then drugged and then raped on camera by the crew of a porn production company called GirlsDoPorn. According to his lawsuit, the video was shared online, captioned with his real name, and allegedly went viral on MindGeek websites.
The woman claims she lost her title as a beauty queen, lost her job, was harassed by students at her college and was recognized by strangers on the street until her life was turned upside down. To this day, she still claims in reference to this video that complete strangers, always men, would stalk her “at any time of the day or night.”
That’s why she’s suing Mindgeek/Aylo and its owners for damages, who she also blames for her misfortune.
Michael James Pratt, the founder of GirlsDoPorn who allegedly initiated her assault and harassment by circulating the video, was arrested by police in Spain last year after a long flight.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY FBI
Michael James Pratt was captured in Spain after a long flight.
The United States requested his extradition to face trial in connection with a series of crimes against women. Many victims have been identified and also appear in videos that were circulated online and made a lot of money.
But the FBI’s criminal investigation didn’t end there.
Involvement in transactions
New court documents filed by Kristy Althaus’ lawyers as part of her civil lawsuit show that the Montreal porn giant was also in the crosshairs of American investigators.
An email submitted as evidence indicates that the U.S. Department of Justice contacted Ms. Althaus as a victim as part of a criminal investigation into MindGeek/Aylo. The investigation into the operators of GirlsDoPorn’s “willful” and “knowing” involvement in financial transactions involving the proceeds of human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
Ms. Althaus’s lawyers confirmed that they had been in contact with the FBI about the matter. Authorities confirmed to Ms. Althaus that negotiations were underway with the company to resolve the matter by entering into a deferred prosecution agreement. The woman was asked to contact an FBI victim services representative if she believes solving the case could impact her.
According to court documents, negotiations are ongoing.