78 Facts About Kim Dotcom

1.

Kim Dotcom, known as Kimble and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, is a German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist who lives in Glenorchy, New Zealand.

2.

Kim Dotcom rose to fame in Germany in the 1990s as a hacker and an Internet entrepreneur who took advantage of reporters' lack of technical credibility.

3.

Kim Dotcom was arrested in 1994 for trafficking in stolen phone calling card numbers.

4.

Kim Dotcom was convicted on 11 charges of computer fraud, 10 charges of data espionage and various other charges in 1998 that he served a two-year suspended sentence for.

5.

In 2012, the United States Department of Justice seized its website and pressed charges against Kim Dotcom, including criminal copyright infringement, money laundering, racketeering and wire fraud.

6.

Kim Dotcom was residing in New Zealand at the time; at the request of US authorities, New Zealand police raided his home in 2012 and arrested him.

7.

Kim Dotcom posted bail and has been going through legal proceedings ever since to avoid extradition to the United States.

8.

In 2017, a New Zealand court ruled that Kim Dotcom could be extradited to the US on fraud charges related to Megaupload.

9.

Kim Dotcom denies any wrongdoing and has accused US authorities of pursuing a vendetta against him on behalf of politically influential Hollywood studios.

10.

Kim Dotcom appealed to the Supreme Court of New Zealand, which ruled in 2020 that Kim Dotcom could be extradited to the United States, but that he could challenge the decision through a judicial review.

11.

In 2013, Kim Dotcom launched another cloud storage service called Mega, although he severed all ties with the service in 2015.

12.

In 2017, Kim Dotcom played a role in spreading conspiracy theories about the murder of Seth Rich.

13.

Kim Dotcom's mother was Finnish, from Turku, so he holds a Finnish passport and has siblings in Finland.

14.

Kim Dotcom legally changed his surname to Dotcom in 2005.

15.

Kim Dotcom was granted permanent residence in New Zealand on 29 November 2010.

16.

Kim Dotcom leased a mansion in Coatesville, a rural community near Auckland, owned by entrepreneurs Richard and Ruth Bradley, and considered one of the most expensive homes in the country.

17.

Kim Dotcom wanted to buy the mansion when the lease expired.

18.

In 2007, Kim Dotcom met Mona Verga, whom he described as his "soulmate" and the "love of his life", and married her on 10 July 2009.

19.

Kim Dotcom had one child from a previous relationship, who was born in September 2007.

20.

On 17 May 2014, Kim Dotcom announced on Twitter that he was separated from his wife Mona and was filing for divorce.

21.

In November 2017, Kim Dotcom announced he would marry his fiancee, Elizabeth Donnelly, on 20 January 2018; the anniversary of the raid during which he was arrested.

22.

Kim Dotcom stated that he had hacked corporate PBX systems in the United States and said he was selling the access codes.

23.

Kim Dotcom was arrested again in 1998 on more hacking charges and convicted of 11 counts of computer fraud and 10 counts of data espionage.

24.

Kim Dotcom moved to Thailand to avoid investigation, but was arrested there at the request of the German embassy.

25.

Kim Dotcom was deported back to Germany where he pleaded guilty to embezzlement in November 2003 and, after five months in jail awaiting trial, again received a suspended sentence, this time of 20 months.

26.

Kim Dotcom set up a network of interlinked companies, including Trendax, which he said was an artificial intelligence-driven hedge fund.

27.

Kim Dotcom applied for residency and received it in November 2010.

28.

Kim Dotcom asked Dotcom for help putting on a fireworks display in the city's harbour.

29.

Kim Dotcom said it provided a great view of the fireworks display detonated over the Waitemata Harbour.

30.

On 28 April 2012, Kim Dotcom revealed he had donated $50,000 to John Banks' mayoralty campaign in 2010 and that Banks had asked him to split the donation in two, allowing the Banks campaign to claim them as anonymous by falling within the anonymous limit of $25,000.

31.

In 2014, Banks was found guilty of filing a false electoral return, with evidence from Kim Dotcom playing a major part in the case.

32.

Kim Dotcom subsequently recorded a song titled Amnesia, which mocks John Banks and the controversy of Kim Dotcom's donation to him.

33.

In February 2003, Kim Dotcom set up Data Protect Limited, but changed the name to Megaupload in 2005.

34.

Kim Dotcom was remanded to Mt Eden Prison and alleged poor treatment by the authorities.

35.

On 28 June 2012, High Court of New Zealand Justice Helen Winkelmann found that the warrants used to seize Kim Dotcom's property were illegal because they were too broad.

36.

The Crown later admitted that it was aware that it was using the wrong order while the raid was in progress and that Kim Dotcom should have been given the chance to challenge the seizure.

37.

In May 2012, a district court judge ruled that the FBI should hand over all its evidence against Kim Dotcom relating to the extradition bid.

38.

In May 2013, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, so it will make the final decision on whether Kim Dotcom should receive all the FBI investigation files before the extradition hearing.

39.

In March 2013, Kim Dotcom won a Court of Appeal ruling allowing him to sue the GCSB, rejecting the attorney-general's appeal against a ruling in December 2012.

40.

The New Zealand Herald reported that their settlements were six-figure sums and "it is likely Kim Dotcom would seek more as the main target in the raid".

41.

In February 2014, the New Zealand Court of Appeal deemed the raids on Kim Dotcom to be legal but not the FBI's taking of information.

42.

Kim Dotcom argued that Key had been involved in a plan to allow him into New Zealand so that he could then be extradited to the US to face copyright charges.

43.

On 24 September 2012, Key revealed that, at the request of the police, the New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau had spied on Kim Dotcom to help police to locate him and monitor his communications in the weeks prior to the raid on his house.

44.

Kim Dotcom was unable to access the information, but Stuart Grieve QC, who was appointed as a Special Advocate, was given access.

45.

Kim Dotcom argued in the Court of Appeal that there had been judicial miscarriage, but the court ruled in favour of the GCSB.

46.

Kim Dotcom next sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court but in February 2020, it rejected his appeal and ordered him to pay the GCSB NZ$2,500.

47.

In September 2013, Kim Dotcom revealed he aspired to enter New Zealand politics.

48.

On 16 September 2014, Kim Dotcom held an event in the Auckland Town Hall five days before the election in which he promised to provide "absolute proof" that Prime Minister John Key knew about him long before he was arrested.

49.

Kim Dotcom, who was not a candidate because he is not a New Zealand citizen, sank NZ$3.5 million into the Internet Party, the largest personal contribution to a political party on record in New Zealand, according to the national Electoral Commission.

50.

The media criticised Kim Dotcom for "failing to deliver" at the Moment of Truth after saying for three years that he could prove John Key had lied in relation to his copyright case.

51.

Kim Dotcom said in January 2015 he had become such "a pariah" in New Zealand that he might as well leave the country.

52.

Kim Dotcom said there were no legal grounds to extradite Dotcom and the allegations and evidence made public by the US Department of Justice "do not meet the requirements necessary to support a prima facie case that would be recognised by United States federal law".

53.

Kim Dotcom said the US had a "large body of evidence" which supported a prima facie case.

54.

Kim Dotcom's lawyer said that he would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

55.

In June 2019, Kim Dotcom began "a final appeal to halt his extradition from New Zealand to the US".

56.

On 4 November 2020, the Supreme Court of New Zealand ruled that Kim Dotcom could be extradited to the United States to face 12 criminal copyright-related charges.

57.

Kim Dotcom claimed to be a legitimate businessman who has been persecuted by the United States government and industry trade groups such as the RIAA and Motion Picture Association of America.

58.

Kim Dotcom blames former US President Barack Obama for colluding with Hollywood to orchestrate his arrest and has spoken out against his negative portrayal in the media.

59.

In regard to the illegal spying conducted by GCSB, Kim Dotcom said they were not spying to find out where he was.

60.

In May 2013, Kim Dotcom released a 39-page white paper alleging that the US government persecuted him at the behest of Hollywood, in exchange for support for Obama.

61.

Speculation about Hollywood's role in Kim Dotcom's arrest grew when, in September 2012, Key made a four-day visit to meet top studio executives.

62.

In late May 2017, Kim Dotcom posted statements on Twitter and his website claiming he worked with Seth Rich on the Internet Party and had proof that Rich was the source of the 2016 Democratic National Committee email leak.

63.

In tweets, Kim Dotcom claimed to be involved with Seth Rich as WikiLeaks source.

64.

Kim Dotcom said he was willing to provide written testimony to the US Congress and that he was willing to provide evidence to US special counsel Robert Mueller if his safe passage from New Zealand to the United States was guaranteed.

65.

Kim Dotcom tweeted an alleged FBI file about Seth Rich, warning that it might be fake.

66.

Kim Dotcom later agreed it was fake, but said there was no need to delete the tweet since he had issued a warning soon after posting it that the file could be fake.

67.

Kim Dotcom said that he had hacked Sudanese bank accounts belonging to Osama Bin Laden and offered a $10 million reward for information leading to Osama's capture on his-defunct kimble.

68.

Kim Dotcom participated in a mock funeral procession for public broadcaster TVNZ 7 in downtown Auckland, on the day of its final broadcast.

69.

Kim Dotcom had warmed to one of its more notable shows, Media7, for its championing of Internet freedom and had been interviewed on the show at least once.

70.

In June 2012, Kim Dotcom announced the upcoming launch of Megabox, a music streaming service.

71.

Kim Dotcom was already in the process of recording the album with friend and producer, Printz Board, when he was arrested.

72.

In January 2013, Kim Dotcom offered a $13,500 reward to anyone able to defeat the site's security system.

73.

Kim Dotcom has been involved in the local community in Auckland.

74.

On 4 September 2013, Kim Dotcom stepped down as director of Mega and announced he was working on a music streaming service called Baboom.

75.

On 10 September 2013, Kim Dotcom announced that he would play 100 people in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 at New Zealand's first Digital Entertainment Expo.

76.

On 25 December 2014, Kim Dotcom helped stop the Christmas DDoS attacks on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network by giving Lizard Squad 3,000 $99 one year MEGA accounts which would then be converted to lifetime accounts worth approximately $300,000.

77.

In 2017, the biographical documentary Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web, directed by Annie Goldson, premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival.

78.

In November 2019, Kim Dotcom was going to launch his own cryptocurrency, but due to regulatory uncertainty, the offer was cancelled.