[ISN] It's 'Bye-Bye, Deutschland' For Kim Schmitz

From: InfoSec News (isnat_private)
Date: Fri Jan 11 2002 - 10:52:05 PST

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    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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