BFF-08 Judge was ‘misled’ to get Kim Dotcom warrant: lawyer

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Judge was ‘misled’ to get Kim Dotcom warrant: lawyer

WELLINGTON, Feb 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Lawyers for Megaupload founder Kim
Dotcom questioned the validity of the internet mogul’s arrest Monday,
claiming New Zealand authorities misled a judge to obtain a warrant.

More than six years after an armed police raid saw Dotcom arrested and his
empire dismantled, the German national is still fighting extradition to the
United States.

The legal battle reached the Court of Appeal in Wellington on Monday, where
Dotcom’s lawyers will attempt to overturn two previous court rulings that
went against him.

The 44-year-old is accused of industrial-scale online piracy via
Megaupload.

If extradited, Dotcom and his co-accused — Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann,
Bram van der Kolk — will face US charges of racketeering, fraud and money
laundering carrying jail terms of up to 20 years.

The hearing that opened Monday is set to examine New Zealand’s extradition
laws in minute detail.

Barrister Grant Illingworth, representing Ortmann and van der Kolk, said
New Zealand authorities had concealed crucial information when applying for
an arrest warrant ahead of the January 2012 raid.

He said the application before a District Court judge failed to disclose
that New Zealand’s GCSB intelligence service illegally spied on Dotcom before
police moved in.

Illingworth said the judge should have been given all relevant information.

“We say that there was misleading conduct at this stage because there was
no reference to the fact that information had been gathered illegally by the
GCSB,” he said.

The then-prime minister John Key apologised to Dotcom when the spying was
revealed in 2012, acknowledging that as a New Zealand resident the GCSB had
no right to snoop on him.

Dotcom was not present for the hearing’s opening day.

The appeal is expected to wrap up this week, although a decision from the
three judges presiding over the case could take months.

Megaupload was an early example of cloud computing, allowing users to
upload large files onto a server so others could easily download them.

At its height in 2011, Megaupload claimed to have 50 million daily users
and account for four percent of the world’s internet traffic.

The problem, according to an FBI indictment, was that many of the files
shared were copyright-protected films and music.

It alleges Megaupload netted more than $175 million in criminal proceeds
and cost copyright owners $500 million-plus by offering pirated content.

Dotcom and his co-accused maintain their innocence.

He has remained outspoken throughout his legal battle and last month marked
the sixth anniversary of the raid on his Auckland mansion by announcing a
multi-billion dollar damages claim against the New Zealand government.

BSS/AFP/GMR/0908 hrs