Kim to wed on raid anniversary

Wedding bells are about to ring for Kim Dotcom and fiancee Elizabeth Donnelly.

And when they do, in classic Dotcom style, Dotcom plans to use his wedding day to make a statement.

The German entrepreneur told the Herald on Sunday he will marry Donnelly on January 20 — the sixth anniversary of the raid in which he was arrested. It would be “a small private ceremony”.

The wedding was originally planned for this month but Dotcom has marked most anniversaries of the raid with a special event.

In the 2012 raid Dotcom and three others were arrested in New Zealand on behalf of the FBI, which was carrying out a worldwide operation targeting his file sharing business Megaupload, at the time consuming 4 per cent of the globe’s internet traffic. On its first anniversary he launched the Mega business.

The announcement marks the end of a big week for Dotcom in which it was announced police had made a confidential settlement in a damages case taken by the Dotcoms over the raid.

Even though Dotcom was facing claims of criminal copyright violation — later found to not be a crime here— the police used the anti-terrorist Special Tactics Group in a helicopter assault on his Coatesville mansion.

He and others arrested face decades in jail if successfully extradited to the United States and convicted on copyright, money laundering and other charges.

Dotcom has always denied any illegality. He and Donnelly will have been seeing each other for about two years when they marry.

In an earlier interview, Dotcom said: “I thought I would never love again. My heart turned ice cold after my separation from Mona. To love and be loved is what happiness is all about.”

The couple moved to Queenstown in August. Donnelly, who is 21 years younger than Dotcom, is believed to be planning to study law at Otago University.