Porn purveyor charged with purloining Army bandwidth

A man has being charged with conning the US Army into providing high-speed access to video feeds from his porno Web site by pretending it was a communication link for NATO forces in Bosnia.

Gilbert Benjamin, 49, of Neptune, New Jersey, has been charged with mail and mail fraud as well as filing false government claims, Reuters reports.

In an indictment, Benjamin is charged with obtaining $100,000 from the Fort Monmouth Army base for running a T-1 link he fraudulently claimed was needed to
back up the base's communications with US forces in Bosnia.

Far from helping G-Is stay in touch with home, the link was used between 1997 and 1998 to run two-way video hook-ups (including live sex shows) for an adult subscription service called Blue Sky.

Benjamin is also charged with obtaining computer equipment from the base by deception before selling them through his brother, who runs a reseller firm in Berlin, New Hampshire.

Prosecutors estimate Benjamin's alleged activities cost the government $300,000, before his activities were uncovered.

Benjamin was arrested at his house by special agents of the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the Defence Criminal Investigative Service.

He faces charges that could result in up to five years in jail and a fine of up to $500,000. ®