Criminal Investigations
As a teenager, Schmitz acquired a reputation in his native Germany after being convicted of bypassing the security of NASA, the Pentagon and Citibank under the name of Kimble – based on the character of Dr Richard Kimble in the long running television programme The Fugitive. He also hacked corporate PBX systems in the United States and said he was selling the access codes at $200 a pop, bragging that "every PBX is an open door to me."
In 1994, he was arrested by German police for trafficking in stolen phone calling card numbers. He was held in custody for a month, released and arrested again on additional hacking charges shortly afterwards. He was eventually convicted of 11 counts of computer fraud, 10 counts of data espionage, and an assortment of other charges. He received a two-year suspended sentence – because he was "under age" at the time the crimes were committed. The judge in the case said the court viewed his actions as "youthful foolishness."
In 2001, Schmitz purchased €375,000 worth of shares of the nearly bankrupt company LetsBuyIt.com and subsequently announced his intention to invest €50 million in the company. The announcement caused the share value of LetsBuyIt.com to jump and Schmitz cashed out, making a profit of €1.5 million. One commentator suggested that Schmitz may have been ignorant of the legal ramifications of what he had done since insider trading was not made a crime in Germany until 1995, and until 2002 prosecutors also had to prove the accused had criminal intent.
Schmitz moved to Thailand to avoid investigation where he was subsequently arrested on behalf of German authorities. In response he allegedly pretended to kill himself online posting a message on his website that from now on he wished to be known as "His Royal Highness King Kimble the First, Ruler of the Kimpire". He was deported back to Germany where he pleaded guilty to embezzlement in November 2003 and, after five months in jail awaiting trial, again received a suspended sentence (of 20 months). After avoiding a prison sentence for a second time, he left Germany and moved to Hong Kong in late 2003.
Schmitz found Hong Kong to his liking and registered Kimpire Limited in December 2003, soon after moving there. He set up a network of interlinked companies, including Trendax which was claimed to be an artificial intelligence-driven hedge fund delivering an annual return of at least 25%. However, Trendax was never registered with Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and the company was legally not allowed to accept investments or to conduct trades. Dotcom was subsequently convicted for failing to disclose his shareholding to the Securities and Futures Commission, and was fined 8000 Hong Kong dollars.
Read more about this topic: Kim Dotcom
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“Think of admitting the details of a single case of the criminal court into our thoughts, to stalk profanely through their very sanctum sanctorum for an hour, ay, for many hours! to make a very barroom of the mind’s inmost apartment, as if for so long the dust of the street had occupied us,—the very street itself, with all its travel, its bustle, and filth, had passed through our thoughts’ shrine! Would it not be an intellectual and moral suicide?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)