Sony has gone hunting in South America for a PS3 hacker who shot through from the USA last week. The Hacker George Hotz, claims he is on holiday. Sony are suspicious.Hotz, also known as Geohot, said his trip had been planned for months and added that he was still in contact with his lawyers.

Court documents lodged in the USA reveal that Sony, who is suing Hotz  for computer fraud and breach of copyright, is suspicious of his sudden departure.

Hotz wrote on his blog “Factually, it’s true I’m in South America, on a vacation I’ve had planned and paid for since November. I mean, it is Spring break; hacking isn’t my life.”

He continued: “Rest assured that not a dime of legal defence money would ever go toward something like this.”

Some of Sony’s legal team suggested that he had fled  with money donated by supporters, intended to pay for his legal costs.

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) alerted the San Francisco court to his disapearence.

They raise concerns, both about Mr Hotz’ whereabouts and the condition of computer equipment he was due to submit for examination.

The filing states: “SCEA learned that Hotz had deliberately removed integral components of his impounded hard drives prior to delivering them to a third party neutral and that Hotz is now in South America, an excuse for why he will not immediately provide the components of his hard drives as requested by the neutral.

“Hotz’s attempts to dodge this Court’s authority raise very serious questions.”

Mr Hotz developed his system for unlocking the PlayStation 3 in 2009. It makes it possible for users to play “homebrew” software and copied games, although he denies that it was his intention to enable piracy.