Errors made in Megaupload raid may see property returned to Kim Dotcom

July 31, 2016

By Talia Ralph

Kim Dotcom briefly speaks to media after being released on bail at North Shore District Court on February 22, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. The Megaupload.com founder and four associates were arrested last month accused of internet piracy by US authorities.
Sandra Mu

Errors made during the raid on Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom's mansion may mean the property that was seized, including luxury cars and jewelry, will be returned to Dotcom, BBC News reported.

A decision from New Zealand Judge Judith Potter declared the restraining order that police used to raid Dotcom's home "null and void," the New Zealand Herald reported.

New Zealand Police commissioner Peter Marshall and the Government's legal advisers admitted to making an embarrassing "procedural error" when filing documents to seize Dotcom's property, the Herald reported.

Officials applied for a second order to seize more of Dotcom's property and, after realizing the mistake, tried to include the property improperly seized under the first order, PC Magazine reported.

Dotcom's attorneys have argued that some or all of their client's property should be released, but US lawyers have said the subsequent seizure order, dated February 1, should cover the continued holding of Dotcom's property, according to PC Mag.

Millions of dollars worth of assets were taken in the raid, including televisions, jet skis, cars, and jewelry, which may be returned to Dotcom as a result of the error, Digital Spy reported.

Kim "Dotcom" Schmitz is a German national and the founder of file-sharing site Megaupload.com, and is currently fighting extradition from New Zealand to the US to be prosecuted on charges relating to copyright-infringing material his site made available, Forbes reported.

The raid was carried out at the request of US authorities who accused Dotcom and his business partners of large-scale copyright theft, BBC reported. Dotcom and his associates have denied the charges against them, claiming they diligently monitored Megaupload for any content that violated copyright laws.