Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has signed Kim Dotcom’s extradition order, meaning New Zealand will almost certainly deport him to the United States.
German-born Dotcom moved to New Zealand in 2010. He has been facing potential extradition since 2012 when he was arrested as part of a global sting. The US Justice Department pressed charges against Dotcom, including criminal copyright infringement, money laundering, racketeering and wire fraud.
Dotcom made his fortune from Megaupload, a file-sharing website often used to share pirated movies and music. He was pursued by US authorities who argued that the company profited from the intellectual property of others, which was uploaded to the site.
Goldsmith said he had “received extensive advice from the Ministry of Justice on this matter”.
“I considered all of the information carefully, and have decided that Mr Dotcom should be surrendered to the US to face trial,” he said.