Lawyers make evidenceless SEC drop fraud charges against Do Kwon

Terraform Labs is a firm that has created the Terra blockchain for Web3 services and goods. Established in 2018, the company’s headquarters is in Singapore. Do Kwon and Daniel Shin created the company. Lightspeed Venture Partners, Galaxy Digital, and DeFiance Capital have invested more than $200 million in the company. The company’s declared purpose is to design and implement a contemporary financial system on the blockchain to address difficulties with impediments to the mass adoption of digital currencies.

Do Kwon is the South Korean co-founder and CEO of Singapore-based Terraform Labs, the parent firm of the defunct stablecoin TerraUSD and cryptocurrency Luna. In May of 20222, TerraUSD and Luna collapsed, wiping out about $45 billion market value in a single week, inflicting about $100s of Billions of losses from the Crypto Markets. Kwon is under legal and societal criticism as a result of his role in the Terra catastrophe. Citizens from a number of countries, including South Korea, Singapore, and the United States, are suing Kwon. Kwon was detained in Montenegro on March 23, 2023, while attempting to fly to Dubai with forged documents. Following his detention, he was charged with eight charges of securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy by a US federal grand jury.

According to reports, the lawyers for Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon argued in court against the claims made by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Kwon was sued by the federal authorities for allegedly scamming US investors by illegally providing unregistered securities.

Furthermore, the lawyers contended that the SEC failed to prove that Kwon deceived US investors in connection with Terra’s $40 billion collapse of the TerraUSD (UST) and Luna. According to the lawyers, the stablecoin at issue is a money, not a security.

Do Kwon was caught on March 23 in Podgorica, Montenegro, while attempting to fly to Dubai using forged passports. Following his detention, both South Korean and American officials sought the entrepreneur’s extradition.

At the time of writing, it was unknown which country, if any, would be most likely to allow Kwon’s extradition.

An arrest order for Terraform Labs co-founder Shin Hyun-Seong was recently denied by the Seoul Southern District Court.

While prosecutors saw Kwon’s arrest as a chance to apprehend Shin, the court refused the motion, citing unverified charges and the unlikely occurrence of Shin fleeing or destroying evidence.

“In the event that we receive multiple extradition requests, I would like to state that determining which state they will be extradited to is based on several factors such as the severity of the committed criminal offense, the location and time when the criminal offense was committed, the order in which we received the request for extradition, and several other factors,” Montenegrin Justice Minister Marko Kova said through an interpreter.

Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.

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