Often labelled “Germany’s most notorious hacker”, in 1998 he was handed a two-year suspended jail sentence for a string of hacking offences stretching back four years, together with theft of trade secrets. He had penetrated security systems at banks and utility firms, and stolen tens of thousands of pounds.
Following his conviction, Schmitz (he apparently changed his surname to “Dotcom” additional recently) went straight and found out knowledge shield, a computer security company. He sold his eighty per cent stake in 2000 at the peak of the dotcom boom and became a millionaire. The firm went bust in 2001.
In October that year Schmitz concocted "Young Intelligent Hackers Against Terrorism" (YIHAT), a supposed effort to find Osama bin Laden by hacking into Arab banks and websites saved by a $10m reward.
Meanwhile he bought many thousands of dollars of shares in Letsbuyit.com, an almost-bankrupt shopping web site. He announced he would invest tens of millions within the firm, that sent its shares soaring again.
