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intelligence matters”. It has a number of sub-committees, including one which is chaired by the Ministry of Justice’s chief executive. It is to this committee Ofcanz reports — although it later said it did not do so on Dotcom until 12 days after the raid..

The first formal meeting held by Ofcanz on August 21, 2011 canvassed the range of information sought by the FBI. The meeting saw a gathering of senior police officers, including Wormald, and Anne Toohey, the Crown Law Office lawyer who would handle the case. Notes from Wormald’s notebook, later produced in court, show the subject of the meeting being the “Mega Media Group” and “intellectual property rights breaches”. “FBI have indicated any funds/assets located in New Zealand can be left for New Zealand law enforcement authorities to seize.” Among those attending was Detective Superintendent Pete Devoy, the head of the Financial Intelligence Unit.

Dotcom’s press presence expanded, also, during this period. There had earlier been the Investigate story and a piece on Campbell Live, along with Sunday newspaper mentions, which focused on his background and presence in the mansion. But after gaining residency and again on 11 September 2011, Dotcom spoke with the Herald on Sunday by email about his plans to live in New Zealand and his rejected application to buy the mansion. Dotcom, angry at losing out on the mansion, was quoted saying: “Mr Power will have achieved nothing but hurting hard-working New Zealanders and embarrassing his country.” The newspaper, which reaches more than half a million people every Sunday, did not reach the Prime Minister, even though the story was focused on his electorate, his residency scheme and criticism of one of his most senior ministers.

As Dotcom was becoming, increasingly, a fixture in New Zealand’s life, the efforts to remove him from the country were about to begin in earnest.

By October, Ofcanz had committed police resources to investigating Dotcom. The police’s Financial Intelligence Unit was tasked on 10 October 2011 to research Dotcom’s finances in New Zealand. The unit used a little-known but commonly used loophole to contact all major banks, seeking and receiving — without a warrant — Dotcom’s account balances and personal details associated with the accounts.

Police also put Customs and Immigration NZ on alert. Ofcanz sought them out for border watch duty, with the agencies assisting police with photographs of the men arriving. Customs also kept police posted on vehicles imported to and from the country, helping identify a car which would later be seized along with the others.

The next major Ofcanz meeting was in Auckland on 31 October 2011 and saw the FBI attend. Attorney General Chris Finlayson QC was told on 4 November ahead of the formal legal request for assistance made by

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