Following a request from Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN, a Dutch bailiff has seized the bank account of a Pirate Bay proxy operator. The owner of the popular proxy site Kuiken.co has been involved in a legal battle with BREIN over the past months, who demand that he shuts down his website. The anti-piracy group seized the funds after the proxy owner failed to pay the penalties that were set out in two preliminary injunctions.

In the Netherlands and several other countries court-ordered blockades are supposed prevent the majority of the public from accessing The Pirate Bay.

Thus far the blockades haven’t been very effective. Instead, they caused a traffic shift from the main Pirate Bay site to the many proxies or other torrent sites out there.

In an attempt to turn things around, local anti-piracy group BREIN has been going after Dutch proxy-site owners. While their efforts were successful against many sites, including one run by the local Pirate Party, not every approach has run smoothly.

Tristan, the owner of several proxies including Kuiken.co, refused to give in despite two preliminary injunctions and a pending court case.

Turning up the pressure, BREIN has now seized the bank account of the proxy site operator, which he discovered yesterday when checking his balance. Because Tristan wasn’t informed about the seizure he decided to contact his bank, who replied with the following message:

“A bailiff has seized your bank account. As a result the funds in your bank account are currently unavailable, until we receive instructions from the bailiff on how to proceed.”

After requesting more information the bank informed Tristan that his funds had been seized on behalf of BREIN.

The anti-piracy group confirmed the seizure today and told Tweakers that it relates to penalties connected to the preliminary injunctions handed down earlier. Since Tristan kept the site online and refused to pay the penalties, BREIN has now come to collect.

But that’s not the end of the matter.

Later this month BREIN and Tristan will go to trial. BREIN wants the proxy operator to shut down his site Kuiken.co. In addition, they want the court to prevent him from linking to other proxies or encouraging the public to access The Pirate Bay in any other way.

In February, Tristan started a crowdfunding campaign to pay for his legal costs, and he has since raised more than 7,500 euros. The campaign ends in four days and it’s unsure whether any of the defense fund money has been caught up in the seizure.

TorrentFreak asked both BREIN and Tristan for a comment on the recent developments but we have yet to receive a response.

Update: BREIN has posted a statement on its website explaining that in addition to the Dutch bank account Tristan’s Paypal assets have also been seized.

Update: Tristan explains that the Paypal issue means that he doesn’t have acces to his legal funds. He believes BREIN is actively obstructing his legal defense.

“The fact that they want to get their hands on the money for my defense makes clear that they don’t want me to defend myself. For the very same reason they probably didn’t send me the amended complaint about the court case which starts at June 5,” Tristan told TorrentFreak.

“This latest move and the fact that they chose for ex parte procedures in the past makes quite clear they don’t want the judge to hear me. You might call it obstruction,” he adds.

“Unfortunately my Indiegogo campaign doesn’t function at this moment, because of the problems with my PayPal account. People can send donations directly to my lawyer. (Account name: Wisemen B.V. IBAN: NL78 ABNA 0422 3081 53 Subject: Verdediging Tristan Pol.)”

Update: Apparently Tristan can still withdraw funds from his Paypal account.