Internet mogul Kim Dotcom loses court bid to block extradition to the US on fraud and money-laundering charges.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand-based tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom lost his latest court bid on Wednesday to avoid extradition to the United States on fraud and money-laundering charges.
Wellington’s Court of Appeal declined Dotcom’s application to overturn the justice minister’s decision to sign an extradition order in 2024.
The United States wants the extradition of the founder of the Megaupload file-sharing system “to stand trial on charges of criminal copyright infringement, racketeering, and wire fraud”, the Court of Appeal said in its finding.
“The US alleges that Mr Dotcom was a member of the ‘Mega Conspiracy’, which the US claims earned revenue in excess of US$175 million and resulted in losses to copyright owners of at least US$500 million,” it said.
Dotcom has long fought extradition while publicly styling himself as a champion of internet freedom and claiming he is being persecuted for political reasons.
He had previously appealed to the High Court against the government’s decision to allow his extradition. That court also dismissed his case.
New Zealand’s Supreme Court decided in 2020 that Dotcom and co-defendants Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kol were eligible for extradition.
Ortmann and van der Kol then asked authorities if they could instead be charged and serve their time in New Zealand in exchange for “substantial assistance” to the United States for their prosecution of Dotcom, the court said. The terms were accepted.
Dotcom said he should also be allowed to face charges in New Zealand and receive similar treatment to Ortmann and van der Kol.
He also argued that New Zealand’s belief he would face a 30-year jail term in the United States was wrong.
“Mr Dotcom submitted that the Minister proceeded on a factually incorrect assumption in his risk assessment of the likely US sentence: the more likely sentence was, Mr Dotcom said, nearer to 150 years,” the court said.
“The court, however, was not persuaded there was any error, factual or legal.”
Dotcom could now take his appeal to the Supreme Court.
