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In prison, there were those who saw Dotcom as a money ticket, or a part of some scam. A guard fetched him one day, saying there was a phone call from his lawyer. He greeted the caller and was told: “I’m a prosecutor on your case. I can make this go away. I’m in court tomorrow. If you want to work something out just make sure there is some money.”.

Dotcom says he instantly asked a guard to take down details of the call so there was a record. “I think this was orchestrated,” he said. “They wanted to have me on the record saying, ‘Yeah come on, if you can help me that would be awesome. How much money — I still have an account they didn’t find.’ So that was a set up, I’m sure of it.” He said the guard was so uncomfortable at being asked to record the details of the call it led him to believe the ploy extended into the prison. “I felt like he was in on it. They took me out of my cell. This wasn’t normal opening hours with people walking around. They came to my cell, took me out and took me to that room.”

He said the process was different from any other he had experienced when his lawyers had tried to connect. “If a lawyer calls outside of business hours, they don’t make an effort. They say call back tomorrow or come and see your client tomorrow at normal hours.”

Whatever the source of the call, it was only one of a number of irregular attempts to make contact with Dotcom in prison. High-profile criminal lawyer Barry Hart, who was facing mounting debts from land deals gone wrong, attempted to see Dotcom in prison and got as far as securing an interview room. Prosecutors at a court appearance raised as a reason for declining bail the efforts to visit Dotcom by fraudster Brooke Bartlett, known for his skill at creating false identities. There was also a swirl of interest from organised criminal elements. During one court appearance, a well-known figure connected to the underworld emerged from the crowd to slip Wayne Tempero a business card. He could be heard telling the bodyguard he could arrange for Dotcom to be looked after inside. Another figure connected to the underworld talked of having bank accounts available through which money could be routed secretly, if wanted.

MEANWHILE DOTCOM SAT in prison and continued to worry about Mona. There was never any fear she would leave him, he says: “She couldn’t do a thing like that because these are our kids.” But he sat in jail and worried about the seizure of assets and uncertainty around their home. The large $5 million house neighbouring the mansion, which

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