Jan. 20, 2012: Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom appears in Auckland's North Shore District Court after his arrest in this still image taken from a video. (Reuters/TVNZ via Reuters TV)
AUCKLAND, New Zealand – An associate of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom was released from custody on bail in New Zealand on Thursday, as the NZ $4.3 million (U.S. $3.6 million) home of his former boss was seized.
Finn Batato, 38, and Bram van der Kolk, 29, were officially granted bail in Auckland's North Shore District Court last week but remained in custody while their homes were assessed for the installation of electronic monitoring, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Van der Kolk was released Thursday, with a condition of bail being that the Internet is blocked to his entire family. Batato was expected to be released Friday or Monday, after paperwork which will see him bailed to live with Dotcom's pregnant wife is finalized.
The FBI is seeking to extradite the two men, along with Dotcom, 38, and Mathias Ortmann, 40, to the United States after the closure of their Hong Kong-based online file-sharing website Megaupload on January 19.
The four face charges of conspiring to commit racketeering, conspiring to commit money laundering, copyright infringement, and aiding and abetting copyright infringement.
Dotcom, who legally changed his name from Kim Schmitz, was refused bail last Friday and the Herald reported the mansion he had been living in with his wife and three children has now been seized by New Zealand authorities.
The accused's wife, who is due to give birth to twins in April, has reportedly been living in a smaller mansion on their property in Coatesville, north of Auckland, since police raids last month.
Authorities on Friday also seized a luxury car and artwork.
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