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So there was never any question that he could pull a crowd for the launch of Mega. Estimates of the cost of the party that day wander between $300,000 and $500,000.

Ortmann and Van der Kolk, who had been buried in code, had no idea of the scale of the event planned. Under orders, the pair reluctantly made the journey to Coatesville, where they found the road to the mansion carrying more traffic than usual. By the time they made it to the entrance of the mansion, there were traffic jams. Making their way inside, they blinked sleep-deprived eyes in astonishment.

“We got there and there’s half of Auckland high society drinking champagne on the lawn,” says Ortmann. “And then we saw the stage . . . oh my, that’s Kim Dotcom.”

It had been hired from a music promoter and was due to be dismantled the next morning for shipping to a music festival. It had been erected in the property’s circular courtyard, framed on one side by the mansion and the other by the large staff and children’s quarters. It looked more like a venue for a rock concert than a business launch.

There had been the odd function in the year gone by — the grouping of entrepreneurs at the mansion as winter turned to spring — but nothing like the largesse of old until the launch of Mega.

Business leaders, celebrities and media had gathered. Dotcom had spent the afternoon carrying out a series of interviews and holding a press conference with selected media, who had come from around the world for the event. Champagne and canapés were served in the garden, with guests mingling around a series of fountains and across a manicured lawn.

In the late afternoon, guests were ushered into the courtyard area and seated before the stage. As cameras live-streamed the launch to the world, popular local artist Tiki Taane and a Maori dance troupe performed. The performance ended with, emblazoned across the stage backdrop, a Maori proverb reading: “Ka warea te ware. Ka area te rangatira — Ignorance the oppressor. Vigilance the liberator.”

As the musicians left the stage, a voice like a boxing ring announcer’s rang out: “Now, the Mega Man of the Mega Moment, multi-millionaire madman, folk hero, star of stage and screen, K1 heavyweight champion title holder, three-time Academy Award winner and qualified veterinarian, Dr Kim . . . Dot . . . Com.”

Speakers designed to broadcast music to a crowd of concert goers pumped Dotcom’s own techno at the 400 people assembled for the launch. Chuckling characteristic maniacal Dr Evil laughter, Dotcom took centre stage and addressed the throng:

Today is the one year anniversary of the raid and destruction of Megaupload. The allegations against us are wrong, we are

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