Kim Dotcom to be extradited from New Zealand after 12-year fight with US


FILE PHOTO: German tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom sits in a chair during a court hearing in Auckland, New Zealand, September 24, 2015. REUTERS/Nigel Marple/File Photo

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Kim Dotcom, who is facing criminal charges relating to the defunct file-sharing website Megaupload, will be extradited to the United States from New Zealand, the New Zealand justice minister said on Thursday.

German-born Dotcom, who has New Zealand residency, has been fighting extradition to the United States since 2012 following a FBI-ordered raid on his Auckland mansion.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith signed an extradition order for Dotcom, a spokesperson for the Minister of Justice said

“I considered all of the information carefully, and have decided that Mr Dotcom should be surrendered to the U.S. to face trial,” Goldsmith said in a statement.

“As is common practice, I have allowed Mr Dotcom a short period of time to consider and take advice on my decision. I will not, therefore, be commenting further at this stage.”

In a post on social media website X on Tuesday, Dotcom said "the obedient US colony in the South Pacific just decided to extradite me for what users uploaded to Megaupload", in what appears to be a reference to the extradition order.

Reuters could not immediately contact Dotcom for a response.

U.S. authorities say Dotcom and three other Megaupload executives cost film studios and record companies more than $500 million by encouraging paying users to store and share copyrighted material, which generated more than $175 million in revenue for the website.

The company's chief marketing officer Finn Batato and chief technical officer and co-founder Mathias Ortmann, both from Germany, along with a third executive Dutch national Bram van der Kolk were arrested with Dotcom in 2012.

Ortmann and van der Kolk entered plea deals that saw them sentenced in 2023 to jail terms in New Zealand but allowed them to avoid extradition. Batato died in 2022 in New Zealand.

(Reporting by Lewis Jackson in Sydney and Lucy Craymer in Wellington; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

   

Next In Tech News

Nokia signs multi-year patent license agreement with Samsung
Trending off TikTok? US users going to China’s RedNote face challenges, analysts say
From ban to buyout: What next for TikTok in the US?
TRX and Bukit Bintang MRT stations now accept card payments at token machines
Spanish youth ditch dating apps for ‘real life’ love
‘Red Note’, a Chinese app, is dominating downloads, thanks to TikTok users
Meta not ending fact-checks outside US yet, fails to appease Brazil
A possible US TikTok ban is just days away. A list of other apps available
Nintendo Alarmo clock now available from local retailer, priced at a steep RM899
Cutting-edge AI to find missing relatives at ancient Kumbh Mela

Others Also Read