Hot Topic
Hawke’s Bay
Kim Dotcom plans to sue the Hong Kong government, according to a South China Morning Post report.
"We will take the Hong Kong government to court for the destruction of our business because they acted for the US government when shutting down our business and freezing all our bank accounts," the Post quotes Mr Dotcom as saying.
"We were in the process of preparing a listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange and the valuation of our company was over $US2 billion. Fortunately, the US government will have to indemnify Hong Kong for any damages awarded to us."
The accused pirate lived in Hong Kong for five years from 2003 before moving to New Zealand.
It was there that he incorporated Megaupload.
The move comes on the heels of Mr Dotcom's revelation to NBR that is next ventures: music service Megabox, Megamovie and the associated Megakey ad substitution software and ad network, will be controlled by companies he maintains in Hong Kong.
Tax was behind the decision not to register the business in his adopted home country of NZ, he told NBR.
"It involves some US artists as potential shareholders and they want a more tax-friendly jurisdiction. That's why we looked at Hong Kong and Singapore."
In December last year, Mr Dotcom and co-accused Bram van der Kolk won the right to sue the NZ Police and the GCSB, a decision reaffirmed when the Crown lost a March 7 appeal. A hearing is set for mid-April.
NBR staff
Sun, 24 Mar 2013
Sun, 24 Mar 2013
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Kim Dotcom plans to sue Hong Kong govt – paper
28228