Having purchased himself a political party, Kim Dotcom is now looking to buy his way out of extradition; Stuff reports:
Kim Dotcom is offering $5 million to anyone who can help him with his extradition case.
The US is seeking to extradite Dotcom to face charges of copyright conspiracy, racketeering and money-laundering allegedly carried out by his file-sharing company, Megaupload.
Earlier this year Dotcom lost his final bid in the Supreme Court, to gain access to evidence the US government had against him in his case.
The matter of disclosure had already been ruled on in three courts. Two judges - one each in the District Court and one in the High Court - ruled that Dotcom should be allowed to see all the information, but this year the Court of Appeal ruled against him.
The German internet mogul and founder of the Internet Party is now offering $5 million to anyone who can prove government corruption over the handling of his case.
"We are asking for information that proves unlawful or corrupt conduct by the US government, the New Zealand government, spy agencies, law enforcement and Hollywood", Dotcom told website Torrentfreak.com.
"It is the opinion of my legal team that disclosure of such information would be lawful. I would also guarantee that any whistleblower coming forward would have the best legal representation at zero cost."
Dotcom said he was talking with his lawyers about the logistics of such a payment. It would most likely be paid to a trust, with terms and conditions to anyone who submitted information.
For the last two years there have been plenty of bullish tweets from Dotcom saying that he will prove his innocence, and prove that governments conspired against him. He claims to have evidence that will bring down John Key and his government.
It would seem that Dotcom has been talking up the "evidence" he has, and that it simply doesn't stack up. Why else would he be prepared to shell out a small fortune to save himself a US government-funded trip to the Land of the Free?
And even if said evidence can be found (or concocted), will he or can he pay the ransom? 3News suggests not:
Music and movie giants have joined forces to freeze Kim Dotcom's assets, but they'll have to negotiate conditions first.Lawyers appeared at the High Court in Auckland on Monday on behalf of four music industry companies and six Hollywood film studios seeking to have Dotcom's assets frozen ahead of their claim against him.The record labels are understood to be Warner Music, UMG Recordings, Sony Music and Capitol Records, while the film companies are 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Columbia Pictures and Warner Brothers.The companies say the now defunct file sharing website Megaupload and its key operators, including Dotcom, facilitated, encouraged and profited from massive copyright infringement and want Dotcom's New Zealand assets to remain frozen while their case is under way.Lawyers appearing for Dotcom and his wife Mona said the estranged pair were prepared to maintain the current freeze, but the companies needed to offer security first.Dotcom's lawyer Robert Gapes said the companies should put up NZ$250,000 (AU$232,742) for Dotcom, and a further NZ$250,000 for Ms Dotcom.
