Kim Dotcom Loses Long Fight To Halt Deportation To U.S.

Kim Dotcom, the founder of the once-popular file-sharing website Megaupload, lost a 12-year legal battle this week to prevent his deportation from New Zealand to the US, where he faces charges of copyright infringement, money laundering, and racketeering, Charlotte Graham-McLay reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The saga began with Dotcom's 2012 arrest during a dramatic raid on his Auckland mansion, along with other company officers. I Photo: Ryan O’Neill Wikimedia Commons

New Zealand's Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith announced that he had decided Dotcom should be extradited to the US to face trial, ending—for now—a prolonged legal fight.

A date for the extradition has not been set, and Goldsmith said Dotcom would be allowed "a short period of time to consider and take advice" on the decision.

Dotcom posted on X this week, saying, "Don't worry, I have a plan," though he did not elaborate.

His legal team is reportedly preparing a bid for a judicial review to evaluate Goldsmith’s decision.

The saga began with Dotcom's 2012 arrest during a dramatic raid on his Auckland mansion, along with other company officers.

Prosecutors allege that Megaupload generated at least $175 million, primarily from users illegally downloading songs, television shows, and movies, before the FBI shut it down earlier that year.

Dotcom's lawyers argued that the site's users, not its founders, chose to pirate material, but prosecutors maintain that the men were the architects of a vast criminal enterprise, describing it as the largest criminal copyright case in US history.