Kim Dotcom, the internet entrepreneur fighting extradition from New Zealand to the United States on charges related to his file-sharing website Megaupload, has suffered a serious stroke, The Associated Press reports, citing a post on his X account Monday.
,”I have the best health professionals helping me to make a recovery. I will be back as soon as I can. Please be patient and pray for my family and I,” the post, which was confirmed by Dotcom’s lawyer Ira Rothken, read.
Rothken declined to provide further details regarding the circumstances of the stroke or the author of the post.
The news of Dotcom’s illness comes at a critical juncture in his protracted legal battle with the U.S. government. In August, New Zealand’s Justice Minister, Paul Goldsmith, ruled that Dotcom should be extradited to face charges of copyright infringement, money laundering, and racketeering – a decision intended to conclude a 12-year legal struggle. While a date for extradition has not yet been set, Goldsmith stated Dotcom would be given time to seek legal counsel. Rothken previously indicated that Dotcom planned to challenge the extradition order through a judicial review.
The case stems from the 2012 arrest of Dotcom and other Megaupload executives in a dramatic raid on his Auckland mansion. US prosecutors allege that Megaupload, once a wildly popular file-sharing platform, generated at least $175 million through illegal downloads of copyrighted material before the FBI shut it down. Dotcom and his co-defendants have maintained that the site’s users, not its founders, were responsible for copyright infringement. However, US prosecutors argued Megaupload was a vast criminal enterprise, describing it as the largest criminal copyright case in US history.
After years of legal challenges, New Zealand’s Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that Dotcom and two other men could be extradited. Two of Dotcom’s former business partners ultimately pleaded guilty and served time in a New Zealand jail, avoiding US extradition. Charges against another were dropped following his death from cancer.
Dotcom’s last post on X was on November 6.
