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Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom is set to be extradited to the US from New Zealand to face criminal charges relating to the defunct file-sharing website Megaupload after he lost a 12-year legal battle.
New Zealand justice minister Paul Goldsmith said on Friday that he had signed orders to extradite the internet mogul to the US.
The decision could mark the end of an almost 12-year legal tussle with New Zealand authorities after US authorities shut down Mr Dotcom’s file-sharing website Megaupload and charged him with conspiracy, racketeering, and money laundering, along with three others.
German-born Mr Dotcom, whose birth name is Kim Schmitz, was arrested following a dramatic raid by New Zealand officials at his mansion in Auckland in 2012 along with three others. The raid was conducted at the request of the FBI.
Prosecutors said his website Megaupload raked in at least $175m (£136m) – mainly from people who used the site to illegally download songs, television shows, and films – before the FBI shut it down earlier that year.
He has, however, described himself as an “internet freedom fighter” and claims he had no control over what users uploaded on the website.
New Zealand’s justice minister said that Mr Dotcom should be surrendered to the US to face trial but did not set a date for his extradition.
“I considered all of the information carefully, and have decided that Mr Dotcom should be surrendered to the US to face trial,” Mr Goldsmith said.
“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.”
Reacting to the news, Mr Dotcom said, “Don’t worry I have a plan,” along with a wink emoji, and added, “I love New Zealand. I’m not leaving.”
In comments to the New Zealand Herald, he said he “received extensive advice” from government officials.
Mr Dotcom faces a maximum prison sentence of 55 years if convicted on all counts, according to the Justice Department.
A member of his legal team, Ira Rothken, said, “Our legal team is working on a judicial review in the High Court for Kim Dotcom in New Zealand. The fight for justice continues. The world is watching”.
Mr Dotcom, 50, founded the website in 2005, which went on to become hugely popular in the US. At its peak, the website became the 13th most popular in the world, accounting for 4 per cent of all online traffic.
He used to live in a Hong Kong hotel before gaining New Zealand residency in 2010. Two years later, he was arrested but was released on bail. The website generated millions of dollars in revenue, causing an estimated $500m in damages to copyright holders after copyrighted material was illegally shared on it.
He has since started a political party and another file-sharing website called Mega, alongside fighting the US prosecutors’ attempts to extradite him.
However, in 2021, New Zealand’s Supreme Court ruled that Mr Dotcom and two other men could be extradited.
Two of his former business partners, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk, pleaded guilty to charges against them in a New Zealand court in June 2023 and were sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail. The US dropped efforts to extradite them in exchange for the guilty plea.
Prosecutors had earlier abandoned their extradition bid against a fourth officer of the company, Finn Batato, who was arrested in New Zealand. He left for Germany, where he died of cancer in 2022.
