BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wellington, TAG — Two years ago,
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom joked in emails with his new neighbors in New
Zealand about his bad-boy reputation before telling them his criminal past was
behind him and he was coming to the country with good intentions.
"I
am a former hacker" who was once convicted of insider trading, he wrote,
before going on to say "In all seriousness: My wife, two kids and myself
love New Zealand and 'We come in peace’.”
Dotcom's
emails came to light Wednesday, the same day a New Zealand judge denied him
bail following his arrest on U.S. accusations of copyright infringement and a
U.S. official confirmed the arrest of a fifth member of his company. Dotcom,
38, insists he is innocent and poses no flight risk.
Dotcom's
neighbor Kevin Crossley said Dotcom cut an imposing figure when he took a lease
on the $24 million luxury mansion in their sleepy neighborhood of Coatesville,
near Auckland. Crossley said he never met Dotcom, but he would see him zooming
past in luxury cars when he went horse riding.
Dotcom
sent emails to Crossley's wife France Komoroski and other neighbors, joking
that "a criminal neighbor like me" could help them with insider stock
tips and tax fraud. But then he turned serious.
"Fifteen
years ago I was a hacker and 10 years ago I was convicted for insider
trading," he wrote. "Hardly the kind of crimes you need to start a
witch hunt for. Since then I have been a good boy, my criminal records have
been cleared, and I created a successful Internet company that employs 100+
people."
Dotcom
first developed a reputation as a computer hacker in his native Germany, where
he was born Kim Schmitz. Later, in 2002, he received a 20-month suspended
sentence after being found guilty of manipulating stock prices to earn himself
$1.1 million.
The
flamboyant Dotcom also made headlines after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 when
he offered a $10 million reward on his website for information leading to the
capture of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
In
New Zealand, Prime Minister John Key faced awkward questions Wednesday about
how immigration officials could have granted Dotcom residency despite his prior
convictions — and then the government could later turn down his application to
buy the Coatesville mansion due to questions over his character prompted by
those same convictions.
Key
said Dotcom had disclosed his convictions in his immigration application but
that enough time had elapsed to give him a clean slate. Key acknowledged it
seemed inconsistent that the test for buying land would be higher than the test
for residency.
"What
I've asked my officials to do, is to go away and have a look, because there's
clearly a potential anomaly there," Key told reporters.[]
Related articles:
Dotcom Joked About His 'Hacker' Past
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