As captioned by Entrepreneurng report, Following the founder of Terraform’s arrest in Montenegro and the United States’ swift filing of fraud charges against him, South Korea declared it would pursue the extradition of the wanted cryptocurrency entrepreneur, Do Kwon.
Kwon, whose full name is Kwon Do-hyung, has been charged with fraud in connection with the abrupt demise of his business last year, which destroyed roughly $40 billion in investor capital and rocked the world’s cryptocurrency markets.
According to the nation’s interior ministry, the 31-year-old was detained on a South Korean warrant at the Podgorica airport in Montenegro.
After a complaint by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the US government promptly filed eight counts against him, including securities fraud and wire fraud.
The capital markets act crimes that put Kwon on the wanted list were confirmed by South Korean police on Friday, and they vowed to seek his extradition.
Prosecutors in South Korea will initiate action to extradite Kwon Do-hyung. Kim Hee-Kyung, a spokesman for the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, told AFP that they were working on the procedure.
Before the company’s fall in May of last year, Kwon is said to have flown from South Korea to Singapore.
Prosecutors in South Korea asked Interpol to add him to the red notice list for all 195 of the organization’s members in September, and they also revoked his passport.
But, once the Singapore Police Force stated that he was not in the nation, concerns regarding his whereabouts grew.
Kwon “used forged travel documents from Costa Rica” at passport control for a flight to Dubai, according to Montenegrin authorities, who claimed this on Thursday.
Kwon “used forged travel documents from Costa Rica” at passport control for a flight to Dubai, according to Montenegrin authorities, who claimed this on Thursday.
According to the interior ministry of Montenegro, travel documents from Belgium and South Korea were uncovered during luggage inspection, while Interpol investigations revealed that the Belgian passports were fake.
When Kwon’s Luna and Terra went into a death spiral, many investors lost their entire life savings, which prompted South Korean authorities to launch numerous criminal investigations regarding the crash. The National Police Agency of South Korea declared that it would work with the nation’s prosecutors to request Kwon’s extradition.
We will actively engage with the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office as an organization that closely collaborates with Interpol.
According to a statement from the justice ministry, Montenegro and South Korea are both signatories to the European Convention on Extradition, a multilateral agreement that enables extradition between members.
The statement said, “The justice ministry will carry out the extradition procedure in conformity with laws and international agreements.
Recall that regulators from all over the world have increased their monitoring of cryptocurrencies as a result of several recent issues, including the high-profile failure of the exchange FTX.
US Securities and Exchange Commission claims that Kwon “orchestrated a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities scheme.”
Cho Dong-Keun, an emeritus professor of economics at Myongji University, said to AFP: “It is true that Kwon has caused too much harm to too many individuals with something that carried a lot of inexplicable hazards.”
It’s terrible that he left, though. A mature adult and businessperson would have stayed and explained. His character is revealed by the fact that he even attempted to use counterfeit passports to elude capture.
His TerraUSD was advertised as a “stablecoin,” which is often linked to reliable assets like the US dollar to prevent sharp price swings. Nevertheless, TerraUSD was an “algorithmic stablecoin” that was solely tethered to its floating sister currency Luna and was not backed by any assets.
Also, the two currencies’ market worth of almost $40 billion was lost as they entered a free decline in May 2022.
According to Bloomberg News, which cited the US SEC, Kwon and Terraform Labs also moved more than 10,000 bitcoin out of their failed project and changed part of the tokens into cash via a Swiss bank. According to Bloomberg News, which cited the US SEC, Kwon and Terraform Labs also moved more than 10,000 bitcoin out of their failed project and changed part of the tokens into cash via a Swiss bank.
According to Kim Dae-jong, a professor of business administration at Sejong University, “Kwon needs to be held accountable for his acts.”
In conclusion, the fact that Kwon didn’t manage the business by morals and the law is the bottom line. He took use of that to further his interests financially, Kim alleged.
Source: Punch
