The playboy lifestyle of one of the world’s biggest Internet pirates has been exposed after a raid by police on his home in New Zealand.
Multimillionaire Kim Dotcom, one of the founders of Megaupload.com, was arrested Friday despite retreating to an electronically locked “safe room” in his sprawling home in Auckland, Dotcom Mansion.
Officers, who swooped on the $30-million property in two helicopters, had to cut their way into the room. There they found Mr. Dotcom — a 37-year-old German national whose real name is Kim Schmitz — with what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun.
“It was definitely not as simple as knocking at the front door,” said Grant Wormald, a detective inspector, describing the raid on the 24-hectare estate, which involved more than 70 officers.
REUTERS/Nigel Marpl
The entrance of the Dotcom Mansion, home of accused Kim Dotcom, who founded the Megaupload.com.
Police seized 18 luxury vehicles valued at $4.9-million, including a Rolls-Royce Phantom drophead coupe and a pink 1959 Cadillac, as well as art and electronic equipment.
Many of the cars sported vanity licence plates — the one on the Rolls was “God,” while an AMG Mercedes carried “Hacker” and another was labelled “Mafia.”
Banking authorities also froze about $8.9-million in various accounts.
Mr. Dotcom — an imposing 6-foot-7 and weighing 300 pounds — is alleged by U.S. authorities to be involved in one of the largest cases of copyright theft ever.
An indictment unsealed in Alexandria, Va., Thursday says the man who began his criminal career hacking into security systems heads an enterprise that stole US$500-million from copyright holders and generated more than US$175-million through subscriptions and advertising.
Police in New Zealand also arrested chief marketing officer Finn Batato, co-founder Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk as members of a group U.S. prosecutors dubbed “Mega Conspiracy.”
The four appeared later in an Auckland district court where they were remanded in custody.
According to New Zealand reports, Mr. Dotcom’s lawyer initially objected to media requests to take photographs and video inside the courtroom. But the man himself said he did not mind “because we have nothing to hide.”
Megaupload, which has been shut down, was a network of highly popular file-sharing and streaming websites that drew nearly 50 million users a day.
They could upload files for free or for a fee, which others could download without paying any additional fees, raising concerns among copyright holders in the music, television and film industry.
The U.S. wants to extradite the Auckland quartet to face charges of online piracy, racketeering and money-laundering, which could carry jail terms of up to 20 years.
Mr. Dotcom, who has dual Finnish and German citizenship, has made himself a visible target.
He splits his time between Hong Kong and New Zealand and casts himself in flamboyant YouTube videos. His role as one of the most prominent Web locker operators has earned him a half-joking nickname in Hollywood: Dr. Evil.
He also has a criminal record. In 1988, he received a two-year suspended prison sentence in his native Germany for hacking.
His offences included theft of trade secrets because he broke through security systems at banks and utility companies. The judge at the time considered his actions a youthful indiscretion.
Mr. Dotcom was arrested in Bangkok in 2002 and deported to Germany, where he was put on probation and fined US$140,000.
REUTERS/Nigel Marple
The Dotcom Mansion
In 2003, he pleaded guilty to embezzlement and was again handed probation. Later, he started a website called Kill.net in an effort to combat terrorism by recruiting hackers.
The Internet mogul has residency in New Zealand, but the government blocked him from owning property there, saying he didn’t display good enough character.
The opulent mansion police stormed — one of the most expensive properties in the country — was leased, not owned.
That didn’t stop Mr. Dotcom from watching Auckland’s New Year’s Eve fireworks celebration — for which he reportedly paid $500,000 — from his private helicopter.
The web mogul’s reputation indicates a love for expensive cars, and driving them at speeds of more than 320 kilometres per hour on public roads.
In a video posted on YouTube, a passenger films Mr. Dotcom as he competes in Gumball 3000, a 4,800-km international road rally.
As he weaves through traffic, Mr. Dotcom explains how he bribed the Moroccan police to detain the driver of a black Porsche who was apparently beating him in the race.
In another video, he giggles as he races around a golf course behind the wheel of a Mercedes.
National Post, with files from news services
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