Topline
Do Kwon, the creator of the crypto firm Terraform Labs that collapsed in 2022, will be released on bail, according to a report from Bloomberg, less than two months after he was arrested in Montenegro while allegedly on the run from fraud charges.
Terraform creator Do Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March.
Key Facts
The Montenegrin court ruled to release Kwon and his former chief financial officer Han Chong-joon to house arrest under police supervision on $436,000 bail for each man, Bloomberg reported.
The ruling comes the day after Kwon, who is from South Korea, had his first court hearing after being arrested in March at an airport in Montenegro’s capital city, where Kwon allegedly attempted to fly to Dubai to escape fraud charges using forged Costa Rican travel documents.
Following his capture in Montenegro, Kwon was charged with conspiracy to commit commodities, securities and wire fraud, as well as conspiracy to defraud investors and engage in market manipulation, according to a filing from a New York federal court.
While defense lawyers said Thursday the two men aren’t a flight risk, prosecutors argued Kwon and Chong-joon have “zero interest” in remaining in Montenegro, according to Bloomberg.
Key Background
Do Kwon, who was one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in 2019, created Terraform Labs in 2018 and released the cryptocurrency token Luna and, later in 2020, a stablecoin called TerraUSD. At first the tokens were extremely high-yielding, with Luna reaching a peak $116 value, but Luna lost its $1 peg in May 2022, eventually wiping out both tokens’ value and causing a $40 billion crash in the crypto market. In September 2022, a South Korean court issued an arrest warrant for Kwon and five others related to Terraform on allegations of violations of Korean capital markets law. Three days after his arrest warrant, as his whereabouts became unknown, he tweeted that he was not “on the run” and was “in full cooperation” with government agencies.
Further Reading
Terraform’s Do Kwon Wins Release on Bail From Montenegro Court (Bloomberg)
Terra-Luna Coins Founder Do Kwon Charged With Fraud By U.S. Prosecutors (Forbes)
SEC Claims New Turf In Lawsuit Against TerraUSD Stablecoin Creator (Forbes)
Terra-Luna Founder Do Kwon Transferred $7 Million To Law Firm Just Before Coin’s Collapse That Triggered Crypto Meltdown (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehamilton/2023/05/12/terraform-creator-do-kwon-released-on-bail-after-montenegro-arrest/