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Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom shouldn't be allowed to recover seized assets, argues a Justice Department filing with the US Supreme Court. The brief, filed on Friday, cited his fugitive status as well as a lack of evidence supporting claims that poor health was preventing him from entering the US.

Dotcom has been in the news since 2012, when the FBI and the US Department of Justice shut down file-sharing site Megaupload and charged the site's operators with the piracy-related offences. The US government also seized $42 million in assets. Dotcom, alongside Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato, are wanted for trial in the US on 13 counts, including copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud.

In February, the New Zealand High Court found that Dotcom, a New Zealand resident, and his co-accused were eligible for extradition to the United States. Dotcom has continued to fight extradition in a prolonged legal battle.