Dotcom upset by trial questioning
Insults were traded in John Banks' trial as Kim Dotcom and the MP's lawyer each accused the other of telling falsehoods.
"You are a liar, Mr Dotcom," said Banks' lawyer David Jones QC during the Auckland High Court trial on Tuesday.
"And you are wrong," Mr Dotcom retorted, in reference to details of a lunch held at Mr Dotcom's Coatesville mansion.
"If I remember correctly, he [Banks] couldn't remember a helicopter ride (to get there)."
Banks is accused of signing a false return claiming donations from Mr Dotcom and SkyCity to his failed 2010 Auckland mayoralty bid were anonymous.
Mr Dotcom gave evidence on Tuesday and grew upset at some of the defence's questioning, at one point saying the questions were not fair.
He told crown lawyer Paul Dacre QC he'd lunched with Banks twice at his mansion, and said during the second lunch they discussed Banks' campaign to be re-elected as mayor.
Mr Dotcom offered Banks $50,000, but Banks asked for it to be split into two $25,000 donations so they could be anonymous and Banks could more easily help the internet entrepreneur in the future.
He said he wanted to help Banks as he'd been friendly to him and had previously offered to help his family gain residency.
Mr Dotcom said he'd told his bodyguard Wayne Tempero to ask Grant McKavanagh, the chief financial officer of Megastuff Ltd, to prepare cheques to give to Banks.
He said the cheques were signed that day, although he couldn't remember if Banks was present.
But during cross-examination, Mr Jones said Mr Dotcom had split the money of his own volition and convinced people around him to lie about the donations in an attempt to get revenge on Banks - and the government - after the 2012 raid on his mansion.
Mr Jones said the cheque was signed four days after the lunch, and the conversation about splitting the $50,000 donation never occurred.
"You have got that date horribly wrong because what you're saying is a reconstruction, not the truth," he said.
Mr Jones also referred to Mr Dotcom's previous convictions for hacking and insider trading, saying they showed he was dishonest.
But Mr Dotcom said he was hurt as a friend when Banks refused to have anything to do with him after the raid on his mansion and didn't have the kind of influence over his security guard, lawyer and wife Mona to convince them to lie.
"If I could I would still be with my wife now. We've separated.
"That's a nice theory but it's incorrect."
Earlier on Tuesday morning former National Party president Michelle Boag, who helped with Banks' campaign, said he had specifically told her not to target SkyCity for donations.
Campaign treasurer Lance Hutchison said he'd known Banks for 15 years and thought the former ACT leader was an honest man.
Mona Dotcom is expected to give evidence on Wednesday.
