Kim Dotcom recovers $6m seized funds
Kim Dotcom has recovered $6m in seized funds from the government to pay for lawyers and living costs, currently totaling $3.6m.
An Auckland High Court cleared the way for the cash despite best efforts from police to shut down the Megaupload founders access to seized funds.
The money freed up covers current legal fees of $2.6m, estimated $1m future costs and a further $1m to cover rent for the $30m north Auckland mansion where he lives.
With the case against Dotcom scheduled for March 2013, Judge Judith Potter has also allowed Dotcom to sell some of his seized possessions, taken from the police raid in January this year.
Dotcom is believed to be selling some of his car collection, with his Mercedes E500 and a Rolls Royce Coupe allegedly up for sale.
The $6m cash comes from a $10m government bond, seized on behalf of the U.S. as part of its piracy lawsuit against Dotcom with the U.S. maintaining the stance that all the money and assets of Dotcom were gained through alleged criminal copyright.
The court ruling comes over six months after Dotcom was taken into custody in Auckland along with three others, after being charged with ‘running an international organised criminal enterprise’ by the U.S. Justice Department.
