Supreme Court denies Kim Dotcom petition to keep $40 million in assets

Kim Dotcom, the founder of illegal file-sharing site Megaupload, was arrested in 2012 by New Zealand authorities on behalf of the US. He still has not been extradited to the US, however. In April of this year, the file-sharing maven asked the US Supreme Court to overturn a 2014 ruling that let US authorities keep $75 million in assets seized during the original raid on his house. The petition was denied on October 2nd, which allows the seizure order to remain intact.

The assets in question are currently being reported as worth $40 million. They include bank accounts in Hong Kong and New Zealand, Dotcom’s mansion home, luxury cars, jet skis, big-screen TVs, a $10,000 watch and an Olaf Mueller photograph said to be worth more than $100,000, according to Ars Technica. The reasoning behind the seizure is that Dotcom is a fugitive — he’s never appeared in American court and therefore cannot claim the assets the US government kept.

The US Supreme Court has just rendered International treaties with the US meaningless. Extraditions will become more difficult for the US 👍🏻

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) October 2, 2017

Of course, Dotcom’s legal team says otherwise, even though their appeals have thus far been unsuccessful. “Kim Dotcom has never been to the United States, is presumed innocent, and is lawfully opposing extradition under the United States-New Zealand Treaty—yet the United States by merely labeling him as a fugitive gets a judgement to take all of his assets with no due process,” Dotcom’s lawyer Ira Rothken told Ars Technica. The defense now places its hopes at the feet of the New Zealand and Hong Kong Courts, said Rothken, who have the legal authority over the assets.

Fortunately most of my assets are in Hong Kong and HK courts won’t allow forfeiture of my assets simply because I legally oppose extradition

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) October 2, 2017

Via: Ars Technica, Bloomberg

Source: SCOTUS Blog