Fabian Thylmann Sentenced for Tax Evasion in Germany

COLOGNE, Germany—Fabian Thylmann, the former managing director of Manwin, has been sentenced to a year and four months in prison for tax evasion in Germany.

The regional court of Aachen also imposed a money deposit of 150,000 euros, according to German news site Ostsee-Zeitung. Thylmann admitted he did not submit any income and commercial tax returns for his years 2005 to 2010, the report said. 

Although the tax was appreciated by the tax authorities and paid by Thylmann, his income was in reality much higher than the estimate, according to Ostsee-Zeitung.

Another tax evasion case against Thylmann has been suspended this year against a financial imposition.

"He is clear that the failure to make tax returns was a fault he was responsible for, which he at the time accepted," Thylmann's lawyer said Monday. "Today he regrets that."

The prosecutor's office and defense waived appeal and the judgment is final, according to the report.

Thylmann settled a separate criminal tax evasion case against him with the Cologne Public Prosecutor's Office for a sum of five million euros in November. 

German prosecutors had originally ordered Thylmann to pay back more than 26 million euros in corporate taxes from 2008-12 because services provided by a number of his foreign companies originated from Germany. However, the evidence in the preliminary investigation that had been underway since 2012 did not suffice.

Thylmann was arrested in Belgium and police raided the Hamburg offices of Manwin in December 2012. He was extradited to Germany and eventually paid 10 million euros to return to his home in Belgium before a possible trial. In October 2013, Thylmann sold his stake in Manwin, which is now known as Mindgeek, and issued a statement saying he was no longer associated with the company.

Mindgeek owns several adult brands, including Brazzers, Digital Playground, Reality Kings, YouPorn and PornHub, and the company also manages Playboy's web and broadcast properties. Its various arms are registered in Luxembourg, Germany, Canada, Cyprus, the United States and Ireland.