Kim Dotcom Loses 12-Year Fight To Halt Deportation From New Zealand To U.S.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Kim Dotcom, laminitis of nan erstwhile wildly celebrated file-sharing website Megaupload, mislaid a 12-year conflict this week to halt his deportation from New Zealand to nan U.S. connected charges of copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering.

New Zealand’s Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith divulged Friday that he had decided Dotcom should beryllium surrendered to nan U.S. to look trial, capping — for now — a drawn-out ineligible fight. A day for nan extradition was not set, and Goldsmith said Dotcom would beryllium allowed “a short play of clip to see and return advice” connected nan decision.

“Don’t interest I person a plan,” Dotcom posted connected X this week. He did not elaborate, though a personnel of his ineligible team, Ira Rothken, wrote connected nan site that a bid for a judicial reappraisal — successful which a New Zealand judge would beryllium asked to measure Goldsmith’s determination — was being prepared.

The saga stretches to nan 2012 apprehension of Dotcom successful a melodramatic ambush connected his Auckland mansion, on pinch different institution officers. Prosecutors said Megaupload raked successful astatine slightest $175 cardinal — chiefly from group who utilized nan tract to illegally download songs, tv shows and movies — earlier nan FBI unopen it down earlier that year.

Lawyers for nan Finnish-German millionaire and nan others arrested had based on that it was nan users of nan site, founded successful 2005, who chose to pirate material, not its founders. But prosecutors based on nan men were nan architects of a immense criminal enterprise, pinch nan Department of Justice describing it arsenic nan largest criminal copyright lawsuit successful U.S. history.

The men fought nan bid for years — lambasting nan investigation and arrests — but successful 2021 New Zealand’s Supreme Court ruled that Dotcom and 2 different men could beryllium extradited. It remained up to nan country’s Justice Minister to determine if nan extradition should proceed.

Three of Goldsmith’s predecessors did not denote a decision. Goldsmith was appointed justness curate successful November aft New Zealand’s authorities changed successful an election.

“I person received extended proposal from nan Ministry of Justice connected this matter” and considered each accusation carefully, Goldsmith said successful his statement.

“I emotion New Zealand. I’m not leaving,” German-born Dotcom wrote connected X Thursday. He did not respond to an Associated Press petition for comment.

Two of his erstwhile business partners, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk, pleaded blameworthy to charges against them successful a New Zealand tribunal successful June 2023 and were sentenced to 2 and a half years successful jail. In exchange, U.S. efforts to extradite them were dropped.

Prosecutors had earlier abandoned their extradition bid against a 4th serviceman of nan company, Finn Batato, who was arrested successful New Zealand. Batato returned to Germany wherever he died from crab successful 2022.

In 2015, Megaupload machine programmer Andrus Nomm, of Estonia, pleaded blameworthy to colluding to perpetrate felony copyright infringement and was sentenced to 1 twelvemonth and 1 time successful U.S. national prison.

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