S. Korean prosecutors seek to freeze $5.3M worth of Do Kwon’s assets S. Korean prosecutors seek to freeze $5.3M worth of Do Kwon’s assets
Kwon was arrested in Montenegro last month. Both South Korea and the U.S. are looking to extradite him for trial.
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Updated: Apr. 11, 2023 at 10:53 am UTC
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Prosecutors in South Korea are trying to get a court order to freeze $5.3 million worth of Do Kwon’s assets in the country, Yonhap News reported on April 11.
Terraform Labs co-founder Kwon has been under investigation in South Korea for fraud and tax evasion since the Terra-LUNA collapse wiped out nearly $40 billion in market value in May 2022.
Prosecutors are also tracking down potential criminal proceeds Kwon generated overseas that are parked in various cryptocurrency exchanges and Swiss bank accounts, the report said.
Kwon consolidated assets to BTC
Prosecutors said last week that Do Kwon had “almost no property” in South Korea because he converted them to Bitcoin (BTC) and transferred them to foreign exchanges like Binance. Prosecutors had contacted Binance to freeze Kwon’s assets on the exchange.
Last week, authorities froze around $116.5 million worth of assets belonging to Daniel Shin, who co-founded Terraform Labs with Kwon. The assets included land, buildings, and cars.
South Korean authorities claim that Kwon, Shin, and seven other Terraform employees made around $314.2 million by defrauding investors. Shin alone earned over $115 million while Kwon earned $69 million from the collapse, the prosecutors claim.
Since the collapse, Kwon had become one of the world’s most wanted fugitives with Interpol issuing a red notice in September 2022. After 11 months on the run, Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March.
Hours after his arrest, Kwon was charged by the U.S. authorities with eight counts of fraud, including securities, commodities, and wire fraud. Both the U.S. and South Korea are looking to extradite Kwon, who is currently being held in Montenegro. Kwon is also facing charges of traveling with fake documents in Montenegro.
Meanwhile, Shin remains free as a South Korean court turned down the prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant for the second time in March.
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Monika Ghosh
In 2020, Monika immersed herself in crypto, maintaining skepticism yet firmly believing blockchain could address key issues like financial disparity and transparency. A book-lover, she's also a passionate food enthusiast.
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In this article
Terra is a blockchain protocol that uses fiat-pegged stablecoins to power price-stable global payments systems.
Terraform Labs
Terraform Labs is a startup that created Terra, a blockchain protocol and payment platform used for algorithmic stablecoins.
Binance
Binance is a global cryptocurrency exchange that provides a platform for trading more than 100 cryptocurrencies.
Do Kwon began his professional journey as an engineer, contributing to tech giants Apple and Microsoft.