World

Kim Dotcom loses fresh appeal against extradition to US

By Alasdair Pal

Jul 1, 2026

Kim Dotcom in 2012 — Kim Dotcom has been fighting extradition since 2012 following an FBI-ordered raid on his NZ mansion. -EPA

Kim Dotcom has lost his latest appeal to ‌avoid extradition to the United States, where he is facing ‌criminal charges relating to the defunct file-sharing website Megaupload ‌that he founded.

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German-born Dotcom, who has New Zealand residency, has been fighting extradition to the United States since 2012 following an FBI-ordered raid on his Auckland ‌mansion.

Dotcom, ‌who ⁠is on bail, was appealing a 2024 decision by New Zealand that he be extradited to the US.

He was 50 that year.

New Zealand's Court of Appeal found on Wednesday there was no ⁠legal basis to ‌block his extradition to the US, according to a copy of the ‌judgment.

Dotcom has one final route to appeal the ruling, through the country's top court, the Supreme Court.

Dotcom did not immediately respond to a request for comment via his lawyer on Wednesday.

US authorities say Dotcom and three other Megaupload executives cost film studios and record companies more than $US500 million ($A723 million) by encouraging paying users to store and share copyrighted material, which generated more than $US175 million in revenue for the ⁠website.