It's 'Bye-Bye, Deutschland' For Kim Schmitz

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173554.html

By Brian McWilliams, Newsbytes
MUNICH, GERMANY,
10 Jan 2002, 10:45 AM CST

Kim Schmitz, a self-proclaimed millionaire hacker, has fled his native
Germany, according to a message at his Web site.

In what he termed a "parting greeting" at Kimble.org, Schmitz said, "A
German high-tech fairy tale is to end."
 
According to the page, entitled "Bye-Bye, Deutschland" and written in
German, Schmitz said he has developed "a German allergy" and departed
the country for several reasons.

Among the motivations cited in the note are Schmitz's fear that
"criminals" are endangering his life, though, he contends, German law
enforcement authorities are providing little protection.

Schmitz, who calls himself "Kimble," also accused German journalists
of publishing "lies" about him, and suggested German laws were
stifling to a "dynamic entrepreneur."

According to the Web server "header" information, the page was last
modified early this morning, German time.

Phone and e-mail messages left for Schmitz today were not returned.

Schmitz was reportedly convicted six years ago of hacking into
corporate computer systems and stealing telephone calling-card
numbers. After his sentence was suspended, the 27-year-old founded
several Internet companies.

Last October, a German financial magazine reported that Schmitz, who
once claimed his net worth was over $100 million, was on the verge of
financial ruin and was being hounded by creditors.

According to the report in Die Teleboerse, Schmitz had been ordered by
a court to hand over his shares in Kimvestor AG, an investment fund he
founded in January 2000.

When asked by Newsbytes about his plans in an e-mail interview last
month, Schmitz said he still owned the majority of shares in
Kimvestor.

"I just used my creativity to come up with something new and cool,"  
said Schmitz.

Schmitz concluded the farewell message at his site with the phrase
"legends may sleep, but they never die" and said "next week starts
here the KIMPIRE."

Wednesday evening, a page at the site entitled "Kim's Kimpire"  
described a new investment scheme being launched by Schmitz. Other
pages, entitled "Kim's Lifestyle Club" and "Kim's Lifestyle Shop"  
offered items for sale with a "K" logo.

Attempts to view the pages today generated "403 Forbidden" messages
that said the visitor did not have permission to access the page.

Officials at Schmitz's Internet service provider, Schlund + Partner
AG, were not immediately available for comment.

According to Internet domain records, late last year Schmitz
registered several new Web addresses, including Kimpire.com and
Kimkimkimkim.com

For several weeks, Schmitz's sites, which also include Kimvestor.com,
Dataprotect.com and Kill.net, have been bare except for a graphic that
reads "New update coming soon."

Schmitz's personal site Kimble.org previously offered photos of his
cars, yacht, and jet, as well as images from recent trips to Monaco,
Cuba, and Brazil.

The site also offered a $10-million dollar reward for information
leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Osama bin Laden.

Schmitz's site is at http://www.kimble.org



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