WELLINGTON, Aug 16 — New Zealand-based tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom lashed out at the US government today, as his decade-long effort to avoid extradition on fraud and money laundering charges appeared to have failed.
Local media reported yesterday that New Zealand’s justice minister had signed an order to extradite Dotcom, the founder of the Megaupload file-sharing system.
He faces charges including fraud, money laundering and racketeering, punishable with up to 20 years in jail.
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 is an outspoken supporter of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and has enthusiastically echoed Kremlin arguments that the war in Ukraine could spark nuclear Armageddon.
“I love New Zealand. I’m not leaving,” he posted defiantly in a series of posts from yesterday.
“I would do it all over again,” he said, while describing the US government as “criminal”.
His website—an early prototype of cloud storage—was shut down when New Zealand police raided Dotcom’s Auckland mansion in January 2012 at the behest of the FBI.
US prosecutors allege the Megaupload service facilitated widespread piracy of films and publications, costing rights holders more than US$500 million. — AFP
