Seven alleged operators of the anime piracy site HiAnime are set to stand trial in Vietnam on copyright infringement charges, and four of them also face money-laundering charges, according to prosecutors. The case centers on a site that allegedly generated $12.85 million in cryptocurrency through online advertising.
HiAnime, formerly known as Zoro.to and Aniwatch, shut down abruptly in March 2026 after drawing more than 150 million monthly visits, the report said. Four months later, Vietnamese authorities arrested four alleged operators as part of an investigation supported by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations. Vietnam's Supreme People's Procuracy has now indicted seven suspects, TorrentFreak reported.
Prosecutors allege the group collected $12.85 million in cryptocurrency through the advertising network PropellerAds. Some of the proceeds were allegedly used to buy real estate and luxury vehicles, including a Porsche, a Mercedes G63 and a Land Rover. The seven defendants will stand trial before the Hanoi People's Court, according to the report.
Nguyễn Đình Minh Khoa, Nguyễn Trung Anh, Nguyễn Hoàng Thanh and Nguyễn Đình Xuân face copyright infringement and money-laundering charges. The other three defendants face only copyright infringement charges.
According to Vietnamese state news agency TTXVN, the investigation began with a complaint from Rouse, a law firm representing the Motion Picture Association in Vietnam, filed with the Ministry of Public Security on May 7, 2026. The complaint coincided with the start of a nationwide anti-piracy crackdown ordered by Vietnam's prime minister, the report said. Investigators traced the alleged operation to early 2019, when Khoa reportedly came up with the idea of creating piracy websites that were easier to navigate than existing platforms.
Khoa allegedly bought more than 100 domain names and handled search engine optimization, while Trung Anh managed servers, Xuân programmed the websites, and Thanh oversaw design and payouts. Nguyễn Phước Toàn reportedly managed the Zoro, Aniwatch and HiAnime pages on Reddit to help expand the operation, according to the report.
Prosecutors allege Khoa also oversaw advertising operations and communicated with PropellerAds through Skype and Telegram to arrange ad placements across the group's piracy websites. TTXVN reported that PropellerAds paid the group 12.85 million USDT, approximately US$12.85 million, which was transferred to cryptocurrency wallets controlled by the alleged operators.
The ad network's involvement is notable because the Motion Picture Association previously recommended adding PropellerAds to the Office of the United States Trade Representative's annual Notorious Markets List, arguing that its services helped pirate websites generate advertising revenue. PropellerAds rejected the allegations in 2023 and accused the MPA of harassment and defamation, according to the report. It remains unclear whether PropellerAds knew about HiAnime's alleged copyright infringement.
Sources: Comic Book Resources.