BY ECONOMIC TIMES
Auckland,
TAG – Megaupload boss Kim Dotcom, also known as Schmitz will stay behind bars awaiting possible
extradition to the United States after a New Zealand judge on Wednesday said
the Internet millionaire poses a serious flight risk.
Denying an application for bail, Auckland Judge David McNaughton said
the German had the money and shady connections to slip out of New Zealand if he
so wished, following days of media revelations about his playboy lifestyle.
The founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload.com has been in detention
since police raided his vast "Dotcom Mansion" in Auckland last
Friday, spending his 38th birthday on Saturday in a remand centre, as part of a
major US probe.
The Internet tycoon appeared upbeat as he was ordered to remain in
custody until a US extradition application is formally launched on February 22,
winking at supporters in the court with his hands on his hips.
But his lawyer Paul Davison said Dotcom was disappointed with the bail
decision and would appeal as soon as possible.
"All of his assets have been frozen, all of his resources have been
taken, seized. He's living here with his wife and family. He has no intention
whatsoever of endeavoring to leave New Zealand," Davison told reporters.
McNaughton said he was concerned Dotcom, who US authorities allege
received $42 million from his Internet empire in 2010 alone, had passports and
bank accounts in different names and would flee the country if released on
bail.
The judge noted that Dotcom was accused of the largest Internet
copyright piracy case in US history, and that prosecutors had vowed to seek
maximum penalties of 20 years on racketeering and money-laundering charges.
He said there was a possibility Dotcom, who legally changed his name
from Kim Schmitz, could flee to Germany, which would provide a safe haven as it
refuses to extradite its citizens to the United States.
He said prosecutors argued this had already occurred with one of
Dotcom's co-accused, Sven Echternach, another German national who traveled to
his homeland from the Philippines after arrest warrants were issued in the
case.
Dotcom and six others were accused by the US Justice Department and FBI
last week of "massive worldwide online piracy".
The indictment alleges they generated more than $175 million in criminal
proceeds and cost copyright owners more than $500 million by offering pirated
copies of movies, TV programmes and other content.
McNaughton said that, given Dotcom's vast wealth, there was no guarantee
he did not have funds hidden away which could be used to flee.
"With sufficient determination and financial resources, flight risk
remains a real and serious possibility which I cannot discount and bail is
declined," he said.
The judge was also concerned that a sawn-off shotgun was found in a
"panic room" to which Dotcom retreated when police swooped on his
home, in a raid which also netted a 1959 pink Cadillac, artworks and other
valuables.
"It suggests a level of criminality which to my mind could easily
extend to exploiting criminal connections to obtain false travel documents and
leave the country undetected," he said.
McNaughton, who reserved a decision on bail for three of Dotcom's
co-accused until Thursday, said extradition proceedings were likely to take
"some months".
Auckland lawyer Rick Shera said that under New Zealand law, US
authorities could request extradition for an alleged offence that was also
regarded as a crime in New Zealand and attracted a jain term of 12 months or
more.
But he said defence lawyers were likely to argue that Dotcom's
Megaupload was a legitimate file-sharing site, not a criminal enterprise.
"It's the first copyright extradition case of this type in New Zealand
and there are going to be appeals whichever way the decision goes," he
told reporters.
"Given the resources available to him
(Dotcom), it's not going to be resolved anytime soon." []
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Megaupload's Kim Dotcom Denied Bail in New Zealand
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