Kim Dotcom to wait up to a month for HK$330 million assets judgment
Former Hong Kong resident Kim Dotcom will have to wait up to four weeks to find out if his bid to unfreeze millions in cash and assets - locked away for almost three years - is successful.
Former Hong Kong resident Kim Dotcom will have to wait up to four weeks to find out if his bid to unfreeze millions in cash and assets - locked away for almost three years - is successful.
Wayne Walsh, principal government counsel in the international law division of the Department of Justice, told the court that there was no "material non-disclosure", as claimed by Dotcom's legal team on Tuesday.
He argued that only relevant information needed to be weighed by the judge when assessing an application to freeze assets, and that this obligation had been met.
He also dismissed claims that the US government was guilty of "hiding the truth" when it sought to freeze Dotcom's assets in Hong Kong by not revealing legal hurdles - such as possible lengthy extradition hearings - in its case against the internet entrepreneur. The 2012 order was made "ex parte", which meant that Dotcom's side was not present to argue against it so the prosecutors had to present both sides. Dotcom's lawyers say this did not happen.
Walsh also rejected arguments that justice officials should have told the judge in 2012 about all the possible outcomes relevant to the case. That is "an impossible task that would place an impossible burden" on the party applying for the order and the court, he said.