Tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom and his family are now looking at moving to the South Island after the Hong Kong courts released funds frozen for the past five years. Photo / Greg Bowker
Tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom and his family are now looking at moving to the South Island after the Hong Kong courts released funds frozen for the past five years. Photo / Greg Bowker
Embattled internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom is to quit Auckland and head south to raise his children surrounded by "beautiful lakes and mountains instead of spies".
Dotcom last night tweeted he was now looking to move to Queenstown after money and possessions previously frozen in Hong Kong by the US Governmenthad been released.
The HK High Court has just released some of my seized funds. Also getting 4 containers full of seized property back. I miss Hong Kong 🇭🇰🙏🏻
The thankful tech mogul said it meant his family of five children and partner of 18 months, Elizabeth Donnelly, could enjoy life surrounded by idyllic mountains and lakes rather than spies.
Dotcom shifted to a penthouse waterfront apartment on the fashionable Princes Wharf in downtown Auckland at the end of 2015 after a lease agreement on the Dotcom mansion ended. The sprawling Coatesville property is now owned by richlister siblings Anna, Mat and Nick Mowbray, founders of global toy company Zuru.
Dotcom, who is fighting extradition to the US, tweeted a Hong Kong judge had released some of his fortune and four container loads of property.
This morning Dotcom's lawyer Ira Rothken said out of respect for the Hong Kong judicial process there would be no further comment until the court issued a written judgment or order.
The entrepreneur has fought for the past five years to have assets worth US$42.57m ($57.4m) released after they were seized under the instruction of the US government.
The Hong Kong court has previously allowed a fraction of the money to be used for living and legal expenses.
Dotcom is flagging new court action against the New Zealand Government after a High Court judgment revealed he was under GSCB surveillance far longer than spies had previously admitted.
