Supreme Court declines to hear Megaupload case

The Supreme Court is leaving in place lower court rulings against internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom and others associated with his now defunct file-sharing website Megaupload.

The Supreme Court said Monday it would not take a case in which a lower court ordered the forfeiture of bank accounts, cars, and a property in New Zealand linked to the group.

U.S. authorities shut down Megaupload in 2012 and filed charges against Dotcom and several colleagues, alleging they conspired to commit copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering. Two years later, officials moved to have assets forfeited that the government said were proceeds of the alleged conspiracy.

Courts found that Dotcom, who lives in New Zealand, and others were fugitives avoiding prosecution in the United States and ordered the assets forfeited.

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