The South Korean founder of the Terra cryptocurrency, Do Kwonwas indicted for forgery of documents and is due to appear Friday in a court of law. Montenegro before a court that will consider a request for extradition.
Do Kwonwhose full name is Kwon Do-hyunwas arrested Thursday at Podgorica airport, along with his chief financial officer, Hon Chang Joon, under a South Korean arrest warrant.
Kwon31, is the founder of Terraform Labsparent company of the “stable cryptocurrency”. Terrawhich collapsed in May 2022. He is accused of fraud for the collapse of his company, after which some $40 billion of investors’ money was found to be missing.
“A criminal complaint was filed against both individuals for falsification of documents.”reported the police in Montenegro.
Terra’s creator would be extradited to South Korea.
Kwon will appear on Friday before the High Court in Podgorica, where the extradition request will be examined, told the AFP a court official, without specifying which country issued it.
Montenegrin authorities indicated the previous day that. Kwon used “forged Costa Rican documents” during a control to take a flight to Dubai.
Belgian and South Korean travel documents were found in the inspection of his luggage, and Interpol checks revealed that the Belgian documentation was false, said the interior ministry of Montenegro.
At South Koreawhere he is charged with violating financial market regulations, the prosecutor’s office announced on Friday that it would “take measures to repatriate Kwon Do-hyung“.
“We’re working on the process,” he told AFP. Kim Hee-kyungthe spokeswoman for the South Seoul district office.
The National Police Agency of South Korea said it will “actively cooperate” with the Montenegrin prosecutor’s office to secure his extradition.
Multi-million dollar fraud
Shortly after his arrest, a federal jury in United States indicted him on eight counts, including stock fraud and online fraud.
Kwon is accused of “orchestrating a multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency fraud,” reported U.S. stock exchange regulator SEC.
Kwon is suspected of fleeing South Korea via Singapore when his company went under in May 2022.
In September, the South Korean prosecutor’s office requested the Interpol to include his name in the red notice of wanted persons and also withdrew his passport.
After several reports that Kwon flew to Singaporespeculation about his whereabouts grew, especially after the Singapore police reported that the businessman was not in the country.
South Korea is a member of the European Convention on Extradition y Montenegro is also a signatory, South Korea’s justice ministry said in a statement.
“The justice ministry is going to proceed with the extradition process in accordance with international laws and agreements.”he added.
The cryptocurrencies are being investigated by regulators around the world, following the media-mediated collapse of several assets, including the collapse of the platform of FTX.
Many people lost their life savings when digital currencies . Moon y Terra Kwon’s stock went into a dizzying slump, prompting the South Korean authorities to open several investigations.
“Kwon did too much damage to too many people, with something that carried too many unexplained risks.”he told AFP Cho Dong-keunprofessor emeritus of economics at Myongji University, Seoul.
In principle, a cryptocurrency called stable, or stablecoin, ensures more stability for investors in this volatile arena.
Its price can be linked to that of a traditional currency or tangible assets, but this was not the case for Terrawhich was linked to another cryptoasset developed by Luna Foundation Guardalso created by Kwon.
AFP
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