Terraform’s Do Kwon pleads not guilty to fake travel documents charges

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon pleaded not responsible in a Montenegrin court docket on Thursday to a cost of forging his passport and journey paperwork.

Kwon’s listening to comes a month after Kwon and Chang-joon Han, Kwon’s former colleague, who additionally pleaded not responsible, had been arrested at the airport in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, whereas attempting to fly to Dubai. Their lawyer requested situations for bail at €400,000 ($437,000) every and proposed home arrest in Montenegro. The subsequent court docket listening to is ready for June 16.

On Might 7, 2022, Terraform Labs’ stablecoin TerraUSD (UST), an algorithmic stablecoin that labored with its sister coin, Luna, lost its $1 peg. The occasion worn out roughly $40 billion in market worth, collapsing an array of crypto firms. 

A yr after the crash, Kwon is now in jail in Montenegro and being investigated within the U.S. and South Korea. If Kwon is convicted of falsifying his paperwork, he may have to serve his prison sentence in Montenegro earlier than being extradited to the U.S. or South Korea, the Montenegrin Justice Ministry stated in March. 

As a reminder of what occurred to Terraform and founder Kwon over the previous 12 months, we current the slow-motion catastrophe because it performed out for the now five-year-old firm, which launched its TerraUSD stablecoin and Luna in 2019 after which relocated its headquarters to Singapore in 2020:

Might 2022 

• Terraforms Labs’ stablecoin Terra, which was supposed to keep up a 1:1 peg to the U.S. greenback, crashed on Might 7, 2022. 
• A bunch of crypto traders in South Korea filed a lawsuit against Kwon. (Might 19, 2022) 

June 2022 

September 2022 

October 2022

• The South Korean authorities ordered to nullify Kwon’s passport, intensifying strain on the crypto entrepreneur to return to his nation. (October 5, 2022) 
• Kwon said that South Korean prosecutors’ fees towards him weren’t official and had been politically motivated. (October 18, 2022) 

December 2022

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

• A local media outlet reported on April 13 that Kwon despatched roughly 9 billion gained (~$7 million) to Kim & Chang, a authorized agency in South Korea, earlier than the collapse of Terra and Luna. This means that Kwon was conscious of the disaster and anticipated a authorized case that may occur. 
• A judge in the U.S. denied Kwon and Terraform’s name that that they had requested the Securities and Exchanges Fee (SEC) to withdraw the request to entry paperwork relating to Terraform and Luna Basis Guard (LFG) from the Financial Authority of Singapore.  (April 18, 2023)
• Terraform’s co-founder Shin was indicted in reference to the crash of TerraUSD and Luna on fees together with violations of capital markets regulation in South Korea, fraud and embezzlement. South Korean prosecutors froze property tied to the folks price about 246.8 billion gained ($184.7 million). A spokesperson of the Korean prosecutors confirmed to TechCrunch that Shin’s first trial will probably be held on Might 26. 

Might 2023 

• South Korean prosecutors’ joint monetary crimes workforce director Sung-han Dan said in an interview with The WSJ: “Investigating the case in South Korea could be probably the most environment friendly method of bringing justice,” as most key accomplices and proof linked to the Terraform incidents are primarily based in South Korea. 
• This week, South Korea froze about 233.3 billion gained ($176 million) of Kwon’s property and properties, the Seoul prosecutor’s workplace confirmed to TechCrunch. A South Korean court docket has banned the sale of Kwon’s home, automobiles and monetary property reminiscent of securities, financial institution deposits and cryptocurrencies on cryptocurrency exchanges.