Terra Co-Founder’s Trial Is Set, Do Kwon Awaits Extradition

The court cases in South Korea against the Terra Luna founders continue to move forward.

While Do Kwon is still in jail in Montenegro awaiting extradition, the other Terra founder Shin Hyun-seong, better known as Daniel Shin, is scheduled to appear in Seoul’s Southern District Court on May 26 for his first day of trial, according to local media.

As Bitcoinist reported, South Korean prosecutors charged Shin and nine others in April with fraud in connection with the May 2022 LUNA collapse. Terra Luna wiped out $40 billion in investor assets.

As Yonhap News TV reports, the case could become “a judgment of the century related to digital assets” in South Korea. Shin is ramping up everything he can in the process and has assembled an extensive defense team of about 30 people.

The team includes a large number of former lawyers, some of whom specialize in digital assets and capital markets law. In addition, Park Hyung-cheol, the former Blue House secretary for anti-corruption, is also part of the defense team. Besides, the prosecutor who investigated Shin will also defend the co-founder.

Jeon Sam-Hyeon, professor of Soongsil University told the news outlet, “I think this case will be the judgment of the century in terms of digital assets. I think the litigation will be fierce.” Terra co-founder Shin continued to maintain his innocence in a statement, saying:

I was just trying to make a groundbreaking deal, and I will clear up the prosecution’s misunderstanding at trial.

Will Terra Founder Be Extradited To The U.S. Or South Korea?

Meanwhile, South Korea is preparing to extradite Do Kwon. The founder currently remains detained in Montenegro awaiting trial for passport forgery and extradition.

Dan Sung-han, director of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office, said Do Kwon should be extradited to South Korea, not the United States. According to Sung-han, most of the evidence is in South Korea.

In addition, the other Terra members are also on trial in South Korea. If convicted in South Korea, Do Kwon faces a 40-year prison sentence. South Korean prosecutors have frozen the assets of Do Kwon, worth $176 million, accusing him of defrauding investors in the Terra Luna project.

At press time, the Terra Classic (LUNC) price remained in a strong downtrend. To catch any bid, LUNC needs to regain the resistance at $0.00012076.

Featured image from Tech in Asia, chart from TradingView.com