Email sent by Megaupload founder to neighbours in affluent suburb joked about his 'criminal links' and 'money laundering'

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

Kim Dotcom, the internet mogul charged with earning more than £100m in illegal profits through the file-sharing website Megaupload.com, sent an extraordinary email to his worried neighbours in an affluent New Zealand suburb in which he joked about having criminal links, laundering money and taking cocaine.

The 38-year-old German sent the note, seen by the Guardian, after neighbours of his NZ$30m (£15.6m) leased property in Coatesville, near Auckland, were piqued by seeing his fleet of cars speeding round the neighbourhood bearing licence plates such as HACKER, MAFIA, GUILTY and GOD.

They researched his past, which includes a criminal conviction for insider dealing, and sent their concerns to the owner of the mansion, who in turn sent them to Dotcom.

That prompted a remarkable reply-all from the multimillionaire, who is currently being held in a New Zealand jail awaiting the outcome of an application for bail after police arrested him on Saturday, having cut him out of a locked panic room in his mansion.

"Dear Neighborhood-watch," began the email dated 21 April 2010. "As you all know I recently moved into the Neighborhood and I am a former hacker. Well I was just hacking into a local mail server and guess what I found.

"First of all let me assure you that having a criminal Neighbor like me comes with benefits.

"1. Our newly opened local money laundering facility can help you with your tax fraud optimization.

2. Our network of international insiders can provide you with valuable stock tips.

3. My close personal relations with other (far worse) criminals can help you whenever you have to deal with a nasty Neighbor."

It continued: "In all seriousness: My wife, two kids and myself love New Zealand and 'We come in peace'.

"Fifteen years ago I was a hacker and 10 years ago I was convicted for insider trading. Hardly the kind of crimes you need to start a witch hunt for. Since then I have been a good boy, my criminal records have been cleared, and I created a successful Internet company that employs 100+ people.

"All the media has to report are old news. Why? Because I have chosen to avoid the media. Just look what the media did to this Neighborhood. Scary.

"Now you can make a choice: 1: Call Interpol, the CIA, and the Queen of England and try to get me on the next plane out of New Zealand. 2: Sit back, relax and give me a chance to do good for New Zealand and possibly the Neighborhood.

"If you feel like it come over for coffee sometimes. And don't forget to bring the cocaine (joke). All the best, Kim."

However jocular the intention, Dotcom's email "scared the hell out of everybody", said France Komoroske, a retired lawyer who lives a mile along the street from Dotcom's estate.

When asked if he was serious about hacking their email accounts, he replied: "Do you really think I hacked your emails? Nonsense. One of my agents has infiltrated your family :-)."

Komoroske and a neighbour researched the new arrival's chequered past, the basis of which, she said, made a mockery of the decision to award him residency in New Zealand.

"New Zealand doesn't seem to care about moral character if you've got enough bucks," she said.

Dotcom has lived a well-documented lavish lifestyle and in 2010, the FBI estimates, he earned around $115,000 (£73,800) a day from his empire. In the past he has videoed his adventures with a large entourage on Mediterranean yachts, in Monaco nightclubs and on the beach at St Tropez, in which he almost always appears wearing a black suit and polo neck sweater over his 6ft 6in, 20-stone frame.

On 19 January Dotcom, also known as Kim Schmitz, was charged in a US court with racketeering, copyright infringement and money laundering and the FBI claims he and a group of co-conspirators caused $500m of harm to copyright holders.

The US authorities are seeking his extradition. Dotcom denied the charges. His lawyer, Paul Davison, said Dotcom's business did not reproduce or copy material as alleged and that copyright holders had been given access to the site to identify improper posting of material.