NZ Police court order Dotwrong

NZ Herald News
Mar. 17, 2012

Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom's cash, cars and property were seized using a court order which should never have been granted.

A judgment from Justice Judith Potter on Friday declared the restraining order "null and void" and having "no legal effect".

The blunder might now lead to the beleaguered internet mogul getting back everything that was stripped away in the surprise dawn raid on his mansion eight weeks ago.

Police commissioner Peter Marshall and the Government's legal advisers at the Crown Law Office have admitted making an embarrassing "procedural error" when filing documents to seize Dotcom's property.

Potter said Marshall's application for the restraining order had "confused" legal moves by opting for one in which Dotcom was not given a chance to mount a defence. It meant Marshall applied for the "incorrect order".

Potter said he had sought to correct the mistake after the raid by applying for the proper order, retrospectively listing assets already seized.

The new order had been granted on a temporary basis, but Potter said she would soon rule on whether the mistake meant the internet mogul should get his property back.

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