A closer look at Kim Dotcom, the larger-than-life founder of Megaupload

[RayBonga]

You probably heard about yesterday?s federal government takedown of popular file sharing site Megaupload. You may have even heard about the luxury items that were impounded by the Feds. What you may not be familiar with, however, is the face of Megupload.

37-year-old Kim Dotcom (formerly Kim Schmitz) is the German founder of Megaupload. Dotcom?s lifestyle fits his physical presence: larger-than-life. He?s reportedly 6′ 7″ tall and weighs over 300 pounds. Dotcom?s life resembles something you?d see in a rap video: plenty of bling, scantily-clad women, and criminal charges to boot.

To say that Dotcom has a lavish life would be an understatement. He bought his New Zealand mansion for NZ$30 million (over $24 million USD). When his property was seized, several theater-sized TVs were hauled in, including an 82-inch Samsung TV and a 108-inch Sharp set. A laundry list of premium vehicles was included as well, including a 1959 Cadillac convertible, 1957 El Dorado, 1989 Lamborghini LM002, 2008 Rolls Royce Phantom, and a 2012 Toyota Vellfire. Several Mercedes-Benzes, motorcycles, and a jetski were also taken away.

rest of article: http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-pi...load-20120120/

kinda reminded me of some of the old days threads in gfy

[cherrylula]

Awesome. Does he have a nick here?? lol

[Cystomatic]

After the police identified themselves, Dotcom reportedly retreated into the house and “activated a number of electronic looking mechanisms” (probably electronic locks). As police dismantled the locks, Dotcom then further barricaded himself into a safe room. Officers had to cut their way into that one. He was finally taken in, along with six of his Megaupload associates.

What the fuck?

[cherrylula]

What the fuck?

Yes, the dramaz here are watery nonsense compared to the real world where shit happens.

[seolinker]

Simply lol, this dude is fat ass geek and not real criminal at all.

[Fletch XXX]

What the fuck?

never be taken alive.

[DWB]

Talk about salty... having all of that, then losing it all.

[adult-help]

what an idiot!

[V_RocKs]

Idiot should have moved to the more than 80 countries with no extradition treaty... what a moron.

[Aric]

Look at the license plate in the pic

[Roald]

Look at the license plate in the pic

Did you see the others of his cars? God, hacker, CEO, mafia lmao

[halfpint]

he will most prob make more money when he comes out of jail by publishing a book about his life now he is in the media light lol

[DWB]

Another thing to note is, he should have NEVER, EVER had all that stuff in his name or his company name. They can't take what isn't yours. If he would have had some slick corp structure set up, he may have avoided losing everything. If that was a rented house, it would still be there waiting for him when/if he returned. Same with the cars and everything else.

For all the money he made, he sure was a dumb shit about asset protection.

[vsex]

Another thing to note is, he should have NEVER, EVER had all that stuff in his name or his company name. They can't take what isn't yours. If he would have had some slick corp structure set up, he may have avoided losing everything. If that was a rented house, it would still be there waiting for him when/if he returned. Same with the cars and everything else.

For all the money he made, he sure was a dumb shit about asset protection.

[porno jew]

Talk about salty... having all of that, then losing it all.

he's already done it a few times.

[MaDalton]

he thinks he's smarter than everyone else - that's his biggest mistake

[Manowar]

his mercedes number plates were funny

MAFIA
POLICE
GUILTY

[Rochard]

With that kind of money... You buy a nice house on the beach, retire, and stay far away from anything that can gt you in trouble.

[BareBacked]

Another thing to note is, he should have NEVER, EVER had all that stuff in his name or his company name. They can't take what isn't yours. If he would have had some slick corp structure set up, he may have avoided losing everything. If that was a rented house, it would still be there waiting for him when/if he returned. Same with the cars and everything else.

For all the money he made, he sure was a dumb shit about asset protection.

LOL dude he had 50 bank accounts in all kinda dif names and corps.
You really think it was all in his personal name?

[Roald]

he thinks he's smarter than everyone else - that's his biggest mistake

Some people learn from their mistakes, others not so much.

[BJ]

Another thing to note is, he should have NEVER, EVER had all that stuff in his name or his company name. They can't take what isn't yours. If he would have had some slick corp structure set up, he may have avoided losing everything. If that was a rented house, it would still be there waiting for him when/if he returned. Same with the cars and everything else.

For all the money he made, he sure was a dumb shit about asset protection.

should of moved to Thailand, put it all in his girlfriends name

[Sharky]

I remember reading stories about him YEARS ago. he was a hacker and one of the inventors of the Mercedes Net car or something like that. The first mercedes with internet access. I'll have to look for the article.

[fuzebox]

There's been a ton of articles about Kimble over the years. I think someone posted about him on GFY like a month ago even?

[Sharky]

- Dotcom has a love for racing cars, but after he was banned from driving for a year for speeding in 2001, he started a company called Megacar, based on his custom-built S-class Mercedes that included a wireless computer, 16 phone lines, real-time video-conferencing access, as well as a flat-screen panel that folded into the ceiling, four TVs, and a DVD player. According to The Independent, he thought the car would be attractive for heads of state and diplomats, and claimed Chrysler and GM were interested in building a model based on his prototype. Megacar, said Dotcom, was one his "kimpanies."

[DWB]

he's already done it a few times.

He's either a Mega Dumb Ass or he's a Mega Genius. Depends on what was taken from him was all of his assets, or if he was clever enough to have a lot more hidden. Only he knows the answer to this.

LOL dude he had 50 bank accounts in all kinda dif names and corps.
You really think it was all in his personal name?

Whatever he has/had, it obviously wasn't set up good enough. That's the thing about proper asset protection, if you do it right, they won't get it. And if they do, they can't keep it. If it's done really well, they won't even know about it.

Just having bank accounts in other people's name and a few corps is not enough. It's all about how it's structured.

For the kind of money they were making, they should have had a more secure structure in place, and lots of it hidden, which they may have done. What is on the news just may be a small percent of it all, we'll never know. It's possible what they took is what he was willing to lose, and somewhere else he's sitting on something much larger.

should of moved to Thailand, put it all in his girlfriends name

Tirak, I'm going to open a bank account and put 80 million in it, OK?

Would have lasted about 2 hours, max.

[DWB]

- Dotcom has a love for racing cars, but after he was banned from driving for a year for speeding in 2001, he started a company called Megacar, based on his custom-built S-class Mercedes that included a wireless computer, 16 phone lines, real-time video-conferencing access, as well as a flat-screen panel that folded into the ceiling, four TVs, and a DVD player. According to The Independent, he thought the car would be attractive for heads of state and diplomats, and claimed Chrysler and GM were interested in building a model based on his prototype. Megacar, said Dotcom, was one his "kimpanies."

16 phone lines IN A SINGLE CAR?

[Slappin Fish]

Should have married a brazilian

[BareBacked]

He's either a Mega Dumb Ass or he's a Mega Genius. Depends on what was taken from him was all of his assets, or if he was clever enough to have a lot more hidden. Only he knows the answer to this.



Whatever he has/had, it obviously wasn't set up good enough. That's the thing about proper asset protection, if you do it right, they won't get it. And if they do, they can't keep it. If it's done really well, they won't even know about it.

Just having bank accounts in other people's name and a few corps is not enough. It's all about how it's structured.

For the kind of money they were making, they should have had a more secure structure in place, and lots of it hidden, which they may have done. What is on the news just may be a small percent of it all, we'll never know. It's possible what they took is what he was willing to lose, and somewhere else he's sitting on something much larger.



Tirak, I'm going to open a bank account and put 80 million in it, OK?

Would have lasted about 2 hours, max.

Fed can get what ever they want. If you think you can hide money now days you are dreaming

[PornoMonster]

What the fuck?

He should of had a "Fire Wall" up. LOL

[Shakira]

Should have married a brazilian

o una Colombiana como yo

[Slappin Fish]

Fed can get what ever they want. If you think you can hide money now days you are dreaming

With suitcases full of cash you still can, vanuatu is a good place if you live in New Zealand.

[BJ]

Fed can get what ever they want. If you think you can hide money now days you are dreaming

oh bullshit, Kim "Dotcom". He was asking for it. If your photo is on the Internet you're doing it wrong.

[DWB]

Fed can get what ever they want. If you think you can hide money now days you are dreaming

That's not true at all.

Feds can only get what they know about and what you have set up to allow them to take.

Just because you don't know how to do it doesn't mean it can't be done. It's done all the time, and done currently. It may not be legal, but it's still done.

[DWB]

If your photo is on the Internet you're doing it wrong.

[thegemini]

That's not true at all.

Feds can only get what they know about and what you have set up to allow them to take.

Just because you don't know how to do it doesn't mean it can't be done. It's done all the time, and done currently. It may not be legal, but it's still done.

Could you explain further? What are options beside physically transferring cash or digging it into the ground?

[strobi]

With suitcases full of cash you still can, vanuatu is a good place if you live in New Zealand.

Or gold, locked up in vaults abroad... Better than cash! Or just digg a hole ;)

[L-Pink]

With that kind of money... You buy a nice house on the beach, retire, and stay far away from anything that can gt you in trouble.

.

[BareBacked]

oh bullshit, Kim "Dotcom". He was asking for it. If your photo is on the Internet you're doing it wrong.

I agree 100% he was way to high profile.

[DWB]

Could you explain further? What are options beside physically transferring cash or digging it into the ground?

Na, just put it in the ground. That should work. That's what the wealthiest people do.

[EukerVoorn]

Too bad he isn't suffering from some horrible lethal disease.

[BlackCrayon]

Na, just put it in the ground. That should work. That's what the wealthiest people do.

it doesn't matter if you don't have it anymore, cant find it, etc if there is a paper trail that it was withdrawn somewhere you are screwed. only way to get around that is demand to be paid in cash and demand they fix their books so payments do not show up as going to you, which most likely won't happen. otherwise, its all a game of chance..will you or won't you get caught.

[DWB]

I agree 100% he was way to high profile.

I don't understand his need to flaunt everything. He should have kept his head down and enjoyed his riches, and kept his life as private as possible. It may have saved his ass. No one likes an arrogant fuck who thinks he can do anything he wants and is above the law.

[DWB]

it doesn't matter if you don't have it anymore, cant find it, etc if there is a paper trail that it was withdrawn somewhere you are screwed. only way to get around that is demand to be paid in cash and demand they fix their books so payments do not show up as going to you, which most likely won't happen. otherwise, its all a game of chance..will you or won't you get caught.

It all starts with your citizenship, where you live, and where you do business. Laws that may apply to US citizens may not apply to German (or wherever) citizens, so that may allow them more freedom to be more creative, legally or not, with how they do things. There are lots of things and steps you can take to make it very difficult for all of your assets to be found. Of course they will find some, but they don't have to find them all.

We don't know the full story, what the feds took may only be 20% of his true assets. There is no telling how slick he really is. But with that kind of money, I'd hope he went the extra mile to protect some of it.

[media]

I did some graphics work for Kim YEARS ago.. he was a kookie dude...

[epitome]

Nice house...

[epitome]

I did some graphics work for Kim YEARS ago.. he was a kookie dude...

All of your assets are now subject to forfeiture.

[pornmasta]

[DWB]

Nice house...

Seriously. That is ridiculous.

I can't even fathom having something like that and then losing it to the US government. That would probably turn me into a home grown terrorist.

[DaddyHalbucks]

What a big fat fool.

[Nikki_Licks]

Jail is a good place for a plumper like this, he will provide someone with a good fat juicy fuck in the middle of the night....