I didn’t expect to write about Megaupload in 2023, but here we are — former Megaupload officers Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk have been sentenced to more than two years in prison over their roles in the company, Associated Press reported on Thursday. The two men have been granted delayed sentences owing to the impending birth of Ortmann’s child and van der Kolk’s ill mother.
Kim Dotcom is ‘not giving an inch’ after sentencing of two Megaupload execs
He’s still fighting extradition, says the two struck a deal to serve as witnesses against him in exchange for leniency.
He’s still fighting extradition, says the two struck a deal to serve as witnesses against him in exchange for leniency.
Dotcom tweeted about the convictions on Thursday, saying the light sentences two men got off easy because they are pinning the blame on him, adding that they “will make terrible witnesses for the US Govt.”
Megaupload, which was a file-sharing site, has been gone for over 10 years, since the US Department of Justice seized its assets and charged several executives, including Kim Dotcom, with a host of criminal charges including racketeering, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit various crimes.
In December 2013, the US Department of Justice published 191 pages of evidence against Dotcom and Megaupload, with its investigation finding that the site had made more than $175 million in membership and ad revenue.
It’s been about a year since the men entered a plea deal to avoid extradition to the US from New Zealand and eight years since we asked if it was time to just settle the Megaupload case. Around that time, it was ruled by a New Zealand court that Dotcom can be extradited to the US, and he’s been fighting that ruling ever since.
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