Kim Dotcom
Kim Schmitz aka Kimble (born January 21 1974 in Kiel) is best known as a German computer hacker and business man, who had generated much publicity and was convicted of computer fraud, insider trading and embezzlement.
Early career
In the late 90s Schmitz gained publicity through his several high profile break-in claims.[1]. He was part of the German BBS scene and had his own BBS called "House of Coolness".
In 1998 Schmitz was sentenced to a probationary sentence of two years for computer fraud and handling with stolen goods[2]. According to a report by News & Record he had traded with stolen calling card numbers he bought from hackers in the United States[3].
DataProtect
In 1994 Schmitz founded a computer security company called DataProtect.[4] In 1999 DataProtect and IVM engineering presented the "Megacar", a version of a Daimler Benz which combined 16 GSM modules to provide mobile broadband internet access[5].
In 2000 Schmitz sold 80 percent of the shares of DataProtect to "TÜV Rheinland".[6] In 2001 TÜV Data Protect went bankrupt.[7]
Lifestyle
With his lavish lifestyle Schmitz became the subject of the yellow press. On his own website kimble.org Schmitz published hundreds of photos and videos of his luxury trips. [8]
Schmitz was especially famous for his publicity stunts. In September 2001 he offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest of Osama bin Laden[9]. Later he founded the vigilante group YIHAT who allegedly had found money transfers of terrorists. But shortly after the website kill.net was defaced by the notorious hacker called Fluffy Bunny ,the group disbanded eventually. [10]
Insider trading and embezzlement
In 2001, Schmitz purchased $375,000 worth of shares of the nearly bankrupt company LetsBuyIt.com and subsequently announced his intention of investing EUR 50 million in the company.[11] Unknown to others, Schmitz did not have the funds available for purchase, although the announcement caused the largest single-day rise of a share price in the history of the DAX.[citation needed] Schmitz quickly sold the shares and profited $1.5 million as a result.[11]
Schmitz had also arranged and obtained an unsecured loan of EUR 280,000 from Monkey AG, a company that Schmitz had served as Chairman of the Board. The funds were to be paid to Kimvestor AG. As a result, both Monkey and Kimvestor went bankrupt.[12]
In January 2002, Schmitz was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, deported to Germany, and sentenced to a probationary sentence of one year and eight months, and a EUR 100,000 fine, the largest insider-trading case in Germany at the time.[13] Schmitz also pleaded guilty to embezzlement in November 2003 and received a two-year probation sentence.[14]
Other activities
In 2001 Schmitz finished first in the Gumball 3000 rally, a 5000km car race taking place on public roads.[15]
Since 2001, Schmitz has had media coverage as a founder of a Hong Kong based investing company called Trendax. The company claimed to use AI to maximize investment return, and Schmitz tried to find investors for a hedge fund managed by the company.[16] According to media reports Schmitz had never the proper licence to start the fund. [17]
The German newsmagazine Focus collected several pieces of evidence linking Schmitz to ownership of the Hong Kong based websites MegaUpload, MegaRotic and MegaVideo. The sites' spokesman denied any connection.[18]
References
- ^ "Der Unfassbare", Berliner Morgenpost, Febraury 12th 2001
- ^ Zugriff in Bangkok, Manager Magazin, January 18th 2002
- ^ "$ 50 Million Fraud Charges", News & Record, November 1, 1994
- ^ Pressetext: Start-up der Woche - Megacar
- ^ http://www.tomshardware.com/de/kommunikationsauto-megacar,testberichte-33.html
- ^ Kimvestor bringt den TÜV in Erklärungsnot, Handelsblatt, Febrary 6, 2001
- ^ TÜV Data Protect beantragt Insolvenz ZDNet September 25th, 2001
- ^ Kimble bleibt stumm January 23, 2001
- ^ Kimble.org offers $10m reward for arrest of bin Laden, September 14th 2001, The Register
- ^ Fluffi Bunni attacks YIHAT hackers October 12th 2001, Vnunet
- ^ a b Haftstrafe für Schmitz?, Der Spiegel 5/2002, January 28th, 2002
- ^ "Alle haben mit Geld um sich geworfen" Manager-Magazin, November 11th 2003
- ^ Luring German Investors Back Into The Pool, Business Week, 12 April 2004
- ^ Schnelles Ende im neuen Kimble-Prozess, Heise.de. Template:De icon
- ^ www.gumball3000.net, accessed 16 March 2009.
- ^ "Whatever happened to...?; A look at high-tech promises, kept and broken", The International Herald Tribune, November 25th 2002
- ^ Dr. Kimbles Wundermaschine, Manager Magazin April 16th 2003
- ^ Die stille Rückkehr des Dotcom-Phantoms, Focus, 15 November 2007. Template:De icon