Crypto Opinions & News South Korea 'Cryptocrash' Boss Faces Arrest Warrant

[upnorth]

Content source

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62910462

A South Korean court has issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon - who co-founded the company behind the Terra Luna and TerraUSD cryptocurrencies.

Their spectacular collapse earlier this year spooked investors and saw the values of major tokens plummet. Prosecutors believe that Terraform Labs, which is registered in Singapore, had violated capital market rules. Terra Luna lost 99% of its value in May and this was aggravated by a fall of its sister token, TerraUSD. Mr Kwon did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment on Thursday. A spokesperson for the South Korea prosecutor's office told the BBC that arrest warrants had been issued for Kwon and five other individuals connected to the case. However, she declined to comment on how close authorities were to making the arrests. According to media reports Mr Kwon is believed to be in Singapore, which does not have an extradition agreement with South Korea. Mr Kwon said it was "kind of hard" to decide whether to return to South Korea in a recent interview with crypto show Coinage. He also claimed to have "never been in touch with the investigators". Prosecutors are planning to arrest and extradite Mr Kwon from Singapore by nullifying his passport and working with international policing organisation Interpol, the Financial Times reported.

South Korea 'cryptocrash' boss faces arrest warrant

Do Kwon is behind the Terra Luna and TerraUSD cryptocurrencies that plunged in value in May.

www.bbc.com

 

[upnorth]

Do Kwon, the cryptocurrency founder whose tanking Luna and "stablecoin" TerraUSD currencies ushered in a $300 billion crypto crash, is now sought by Interpol following arrest warrants issued earlier this month.

South Korean authorities issued warrants last week for Kwon and five others on September 14, alleging their work on Terraform Labs' crypto products violated the country's trading laws. All six were believed to be located in Singapore at the time. Singapore police believe Kwon is no longer there, according to media reports. Interpol issued a "red notice" recently, asking law enforcement agencies around the world to locate and hold Kwon. Kwon tweeted three days after the South Korean warrant that he was "not 'on the run' or anything similar" and that he was "in full cooperation and we don't have anything to hide." But he hasn't tweeted publicly in more than a week since.

South Korean prosecutors said the next day that Kwon was "obviously on the run" and not cooperating with their investigation. Prosecution sources told South Korea's Yonhap News Agency that Kwon's attorney told prosecutors that Do Kwon would not appear for questioning. Kwon and Terraform Labs are also under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Interpol issues red notice for crypto founder Do Kwon

Punchy creator of Luna and Terra coins sought in $40 billion currency collapse.

arstechnica.com

 

[upnorth]

US financial regulators have charged failed South Korean cryptocurrency boss Do Kwon and his company Terraform Labs with "orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud".

The Singapore-based firm created the Terra Luna and TerraUSD tokens, which collapsed spectacularly last year. The collapse is estimated to have cost investors more than $40bn (£33.5bn). Mr Kwon and Terraform Labs did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment. "We allege that Terraform and Do Kwon failed to provide the public with full, fair, and truthful disclosure as required for a host of crypto asset securities, most notably for Luna and TerraUSD," US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler said in a statement. "We also allege that they committed fraud by repeating false and misleading statements to build trust before causing devastating losses for investors," he added.

Do Kwon: US regulator charges cryptocrash boss with fraud

Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon has been accused of "orchestrating a multi-billion dollar" crypto scheme.

www.bbc.com

 

[upnorth]

South Korea police say that Do Kwon, the fugitive cryptocurrency boss behind the $40bn (£32.5bn) collapse of the terraUSD and Luna tokens, has been arrested in Montenegro.

He has since been charged with fraud by prosecutors in the US. Earlier this year US regulators accused Mr Kwon and his company Terraform Labs of "orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud". The firm did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment. South Korea authorities issued an arrest warrant for Mr Kwon last September as they believed Terraform Labs had violated capital market rules. They had thought he was in Serbia, and even sent officials to Belgrade to negotiate, since the two nations do not have an extradition treaty.

Mr Kwon has previously denied he was in hiding but never revealed his location.

Do Kwon: Fugitive 'cryptocrash' boss arrested in Montenegro

Terraform Labs' Do Kwon has also been charged with fraud by US prosecutors.

www.bbc.com

 

[upnorth]

 

[MuzzMelbourne]

This was only for passport fraud in Montenegro though AKAIK.

The real crunch for him is yet to come.