Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom not a flight risk, New Zealand judge rules

Indicted internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom yesterday defeated efforts by prosecutors to send him back to a New Zealand jail or make him wear an electronic monitoring bracelet but says his long-running legal battle has left him broke.

After a three-day hearing, Auckland District Court Judge Nevin Dawson ruled there was no evidence Dotcom had secret assets or posed a flight risk, according to Fairfax Media.

US and New Zealand prosecutors had sought to have Dotcom's bail revoked, arguing he might try to flee the country after earning tens of millions of dollars since his 2012 arrest.

Dawson did tighten Dotcom's bail conditions by ruling he can no longer travel by private helicopter or boat and must report to the police twice a week. But the judge said it would be inappropriate to deprive Dotcom of his freedom on the evidence presented. The German-born Dotcom is fighting attempts by US prosecutors to extradite him on racketeering charges over his website Megaupload.