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Internet mogul Kim Dotcom can be extradited to US, New Zealand judge rules

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Kim Dotcom faces the press outside an Auckland courthouse on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

A New Zealand judge has ruled that Kim Dotcom, the formerly Hong Kong-based internet entrepreneur, is eligible for extradition to the United States to face charges of copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering.

District Court judge Nevin Dawson decided on Wednesday in Auckland that Dotcom and co-accused Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato have a case to answer in the US. The men all deny the charges and Dotcom will appeal today’s court ruling, his lawyer said.

“The @KimDotcom team looks forward to having the US request for extradition reviewed in the High Court,” Dotcom’s lawyer, Ira Rothken, tweeted after the ruling today. “Justice was not served today,” Rothken also tweeted.

Kim Dotcom and wife Mona lived a life of luxury in Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP Picture
Kim Dotcom and wife Mona lived a life of luxury in Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP Picture
Kim Dotcom and wife Mona, who reportedly split from the internet mogul this year. Photo: SCMP Picture
Kim Dotcom and wife Mona, who reportedly split from the internet mogul this year. Photo: SCMP Picture

The US is seeking Dotcom’s extradition from New Zealand over his now defunct file-sharing website Megaupload.com, which was once  headquartered in a Wan Chai office. The website is alleged to have been the vehicle for the biggest copyright infringement in US history. Wednesday’s court ruling comes almost four years after a dawn raid on the flamboyant German millionaire’s Auckland mansion by armed police, who were acting on information from the FBI.

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