Rumor: New Zealand promised Dotcom extradition to Warner Bros.

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom claims he was used as a bargaining chip in negotiations to film The Hobbit. In addition, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key is said to have promised to give Dotcom a residence permit and then extradite him.

Dotcom was arrested by New Zealand police in early 2012 when its Megaupload site was shut down for alleged copyright infringement. Tonight, however, Dotcom presents evidence that that was a conspiracy, writes The New Zealand Herald. Dotcom would have been used as a bargaining chip in negotiations to film The Hobbit.

As part of those negotiations, filmmaker Warner Bros. significant tax benefits. That wouldn’t be all, however; Dotcom claims to have an email exchange between Warner Bros. director Kevin Tsujihara and a top executive of the MPAA, an American club that represents the interests of filmmakers. It would appear that the New Zealand government deliberately gave Dotcom a residence permit, so that she could subsequently extradite him.

Warner Bros, the MPAA and the New Zealand government deny the disclosures. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key says he did not know who Dotcom was until he was arrested in 2012. It is not known how Dotcom got the mail. The revelations come less than a week before New Zealand elects a new parliament.

The United States has been asking for Dotcom’s extradition for a few years, but a hearing in the case has been postponed until 2015. The judge previously ruled that searches at Dotcom were illegal. The New Zealand police also had to return data from Kim Dotcom and other Megaupload employees, because the seizure was “unauthorized and illegal”.