New Zealand: Dotcom

Residency Application Dept: Dotcom was charged with racketeering in the U.S. this year; prosecutors say he facilitated millions of illegal downloads through his website. U.S. authorities are seeking Dotcom's extradition from New Zealand, where he remains under house arrest, according to CTV. They complied and documents released to The Associated Press this week under New Zealand public records laws show that immigration officials granted the Megaupload founder residency that year after deciding the money he could bring to the country outweighed concern about criminal convictions in his native Germany for computer fraud and stock-price manipulation. At the time his residency application was being considered, Dotcom had made charitable contributions in New Zealand and was planning to sponsor a fireworks show for the city of Auckland at a cost of 600,000 New Zealand dollars $492,000 . He set a deadline for immigration officials to act on his application and threatened to move to Australia or Canada if they didn't meet it. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.