Kim Dotcom (born Kim Schmitz), the founder of Megaupload, was denied bail by a New Zealand court on Wednesday, according to local media reports.
Judge David McNaughton declined to give bail to Dotcom, reported the New Zealand Herald. The 38-year-old German-born man will remain in custody until at least next month.
Dotcom and three others were arrested last week after the FBI raided his mansion. The federal law enforcement agency charged him with conspiring to commit money laundering, copyright infringement, aiding copyright infringement, and charges of conspiring to commit racketeering over Megaupload’s dealings.
Dotcom has denied the charges but faces up to 20 years in prison. The FBI claims his Internet empire generated more than $175 million in criminal proceeds and caused $500 million in damages to copyright holders.
In all, the FBI last week charged seven individuals and two corporations for operating an illegal business “designed to promote uploading of the most popular copyrighted works for many millions of users to download,” according to an FBI case statement. Megaupload.com says it has more than 50 million daily visitors.
McNaughton said he was worried that Dotcom would flee New Zealand if he were released on bail because he has the passports and money to do so. “The real question though on the bail application is whether there is any incentive to flee the jurisdiction,” McNaughton said, according to the Herald.
McNaughton said the fact that there was a firearm in a safe in a “panic room” in Dotcom’s mansion made him make the bail decision, reported AFP.
“It suggests a level of criminality which to my mind could easily extend to exploiting criminal connections to obtain false travel documents and leave the country undetected,” he told the news agency.
