New Zealand may deport Kim Dotcom

German businessman Kim Dotcom not only runs the risk of being extradited to the United States for alleged Internet piracy, but he also faces the threat of deportation from New Zealand, media reports said Thursday.

“Immigration New Zealand is still assessing Mr Dotcom’s potential liability for deportation,” a spokesman told New Zealand’s TVNZ broadcaster.

The founder of nowclosed Internet portal Megaupload, Dotcom has enjoyed a permanent residence permit in New Zealand since 2010; however, last year it was alleged he did not inform authorities about a dangerous driving conviction while applying for a permit.

The Ministry of Immigration said they are analyzing the situation with Dotcom’s lawyers.

If Dotcom loses his residence permit, he could be deported from New Zealand even before the end of the legal battle to have him extradited to the United States.

On Wednesday, a New Zealand district court green lighted the extradition of Dotcom and three of his former Megaupload partners, saying there was enough ground for them to be sent to the United States to respond to 13 charges of Internet piracy, organized crime and money laundering.

The defense team appealed the verdict at the High Court and was granted till February to put their case together.

Justice Minister Amy Adams will have the final say on the extradition, but declined to comment while the case was ongoing.

Dotcom and his associates were arrested in January 2012 from their rented mansion on the outskirts of Auckland, after which Megaupload was shut down, their accounts frozen and their property confiscated.

The operation was part of an extensive international operation led by the FBI.

Estonian programmer Andrus Nomm, one of the seven members of Megaupload, is the only one prosecuted so far.

He was sentenced to a little over a year in prison in the United States after he pleaded guilty to copyright infringement.