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 - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
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