DOTCOM HQ: Kim Dotcom's leased $30 million Coatesville mansion.
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Megaupload millionaire Kim Dotcom will be allowed to return to live in his $30 million mansion for the first time since his arrest in January.
A judge has granted the internet piracy-accused another relaxation of his bail conditions, meaning Dotcom and his co-accused - Mathias Ortmann, Fin Batato and Bram Van der Kolk- are also no longer subject to electronic monitoring.
In making his decision, Judge Harvey said Dotcom was not a flight risk.
Dotcom, 38, is currently on bail awaiting an extradition hearing. Authorities say he used Megaupload and its affiliated sites to knowingly make money from pirated movies and games, and have charged him with multiple copyright offences.
Last week Dotcom's lawyer, Paul Davison QC, filed a motion asking that Dotcom be allowed to move back into the property with his wife Mona and their children.
Under previous bail conditions, the Dotcom family had been living in a smaller residence next to the property.
Lawyer Willie Akel called the bail variations made today a "major relaxation".
At last week's appearance Dotcom's bail conditions were altered so he could spend more time recording a music album at a studio in central Auckland.
He was previously able to spend four hours a day, two days a week at Neil Finn's central studios. These restrictions have now been extended to six hours a day.
Conditions requiring him to inform probation officers the day before a recording session and sending a photo of himself in the studio remain in place.
Details of a decision on Dotcom's desire to have full disclosure of the evidence in his case are expected later today.
Dotcom is also awaiting a decision in the High Court for a judicial review of the search warrant used during the FBI raid at the Auckland property in January.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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