NEW ZEALAND (CelebrityAccess) – AP has today reported that internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom (real name Kim Schmitz) has lost his latest legal bid to avoid extradition to the U.S. to face criminal charges.
New Zealand’s Court of Appeal upheld earlier court rulings that found Kim and three of his colleagues (Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk, and Finn Batato) were eligible to be handed over to U.S. authorities.
Dotcom, who founded hugely popular file-sharing website Megaupload in 2005, was arrested in New Zealand back in 2012 on charges of conspiracy, racketeering, and money laundering. It has since been estimated that the website raked in at least $175 million, primarily as a result of people using it to illegally download songs, television shows, and movies.
While Dotcom argued that he has never lived in, visited, or operated a company on U.S. soil, if found guilty, all four men could face decades in prison.
According to Dotcom’s lawyer Ira Rothken, they plan to file an appeal with New Zealand’s Supreme Court.
