Korean prosecutors have contacted the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance. They have requested that it prevent crypto fugitive Do Kwon from withdrawing funds.
On April 4, Korean local media outlet KBS reported that prosecutors have asked Binance to block any crypto transfers by Do Kwon.
They fear that he will start liquidating crypto from the proceeds of selling property.
They estimated that assets seized from the Terra/Luna executives, including Kwon, were 414 billion KRW (around $314 million). Furthermore, Do Kwon’s share of those illicit funds was around $69 million.
According to the report [translation]:
“Prosecutors are extensively tracing domestic property to collect the astronomical profits they earned from Terra.”
Do Kwon Has No Property
The first step in recovering some of these assets is to seize domestic property, it reported.
Prosecutors have applied for the foreclosure of sales of executive’s apartments in the Korean capital Seoul. Additionally, there are properties located across the country also under investigation.
However, prosecutors also revealed that Do Kwon owned no property in Korea.
“It seems that CEO Kwon sold and converted a large part of his property to Bitcoin,” the report stated. This was then transferred to overseas crypto exchanges.
Binance, being the largest, could have been one of them. Prosecutors now want the exchange to freeze wallets associated with the crypto fugitive.
The former Terraform Labs boss was arrested at an airport in Montenegro on March 23. He was served with an Interpol Red Notice after he fled in September 2022.
However, he may also face charges in Montenegro for passport fraud. As a result, this could delay any extradition efforts by South Korea.
Earlier this month, Kwon’s lawyers accused the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of acting outside its jurisdiction. The agency had charged Kwon with fraud in February.
No Love For LUNA 2
The rebranded Terra 2.0 chain has gained very little traction. Its LUNA token was trading at $1.27 at the time of writing.
The asset spiked to almost $20 when it was rebranded and relaunched in late May 2022. Since then, it has collapsed by more than 93%.
The original token was rebranded to Terra Luna Classic, LUNC. At the time of press, it is pretty much worthless, trading at $0.00012.
The Terra stablecoin rebranded itself to Terra Classic USD (USTC). It too is virtually dead. The supposed dollar-pegged asset is worth just $0.02.
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Source: https://beincrypto.com/prosecutors-binance-block-do-kwon-liquidating-millions-crypto/