Do Kwon Mocks Interpol Red Notice

“For something that has notice in the name it sure gives no notice,” the Terraform Labs CEO said in a tweet

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • The wanted Terra developer claimed he goes on walks and to malls
  • Interpol Red Notice requests are typically not officially published

Do Kwon, founder of the failed cryptocurrency Terra, is rebutting reports that the Interpol seeks his arrest.

South Korean authorities confirmed over the weekend that the Interpol issued a request worldwide to locate and arrest him for charges relating to Terra’s collapse. 

But Do Kwon said in tweets on Monday that he was “writing code” in his living room and “making zero effort to hide.” 

“I go on walks and malls,” he said, adding that there was no chance the crypto Twitter community hadn’t run into him in the past few weeks.

He also suggested the Interpol hasn’t actually issued a Red Notice in his name. 

Loading Tweet..

A Red Notice can be used to prevent an individual from fleeing prior to an extradition request being issued. The fact that a target’s name may not appear on a publicly available list does not offer any clues as to its veracity, according to agency guidelines.

An Interpol spokesperson told Blockworks that the agency doesn’t comment on specific cases and individuals.

“Please note separately that the majority of Red Notices are not made public and are restricted to law enforcement use only,” the spokesperson added.

Earlier this month, South Korean officials had issued arrest warrants for the 31-year-old crypto founder and his key associates. They were believed to be residing in Singapore at the time. His Twitter bio also shows Singapore as his location. But Singapore police say Do Kwon is no longer there. 

Addressing reports about his potential arrest, Do Kwon said he was “not on the run” and that he was open to cooperating with authorities interested in communicating. “We are in the process of defending ourselves in multiple jurisdictions — we have held ourselves to an extremely high bar of integrity, and look forward to clarifying the truth over the next few months,” he said.

Do Kwon will have to be repatriated to South Korea if he is arrested anywhere else. Singapore doesn’t feature on South Korea’s list of 31 countries with which it maintains bilateral extradition treaties. That means unless the Terraform founder gives himself up for prosecution, he can buy time and avoid arrest if he is indeed in the city-state.

In an interview with Coinage last month, Do Kwon said it was “kind of hard” to go back to South Korea because he wasn’t in touch with investigators. “They’ve never charged us with anything. They haven’t reached out to us at all,” he said.


Don’t miss the next big story – join our free daily newsletter.

Tags

Upcoming Events

HYATT REGENCY SALT LAKE CITY

TUES, OCT. 8, 2024

Guided by the expertise of Blockworks Research Analysts team, this one day event will feature senior leaders, entrepreneurs, and developers from across the crypto industry. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an immersive experience to explore the latest trends, […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Pack your bags, anon — we’re heading west! Join us in the beautiful Salt Lake City for the third installment of Permissionless. Come for the alpha, stay for the fresh air. Permissionless III promises unforgettable panels, killer networking opportunities, and mountains […]

recent research

hivemapper.jpeg

Research

We believe crypto market participants overlook Hivemapper’s fundamental potential due to a poor understanding of both the niche map data market and Hivemapper’s positioning relative to incumbents. Hivemapper’s token model catalyzes both a cost and product advantage via unmatched map freshness and near real-time accuracy, which is its wedge into a market characterized by stale data and high data collection costs. Its current and potential future product suite may represent one of the strongest possibilities for PMF in crypto today.

article-image

The Department of Justice and Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced back-to-back lawsuits against KuCoin Tuesday

article-image

Judge Failla found that Coinbase didn’t operate as an unregistered broker in offering its wallet service

article-image

A fund by Laser Digital offers investors exposure to the Polygon network, while a new 21Shares ETP focuses on staking rewards from Toncoin

article-image

Sponsored

The TRON network’s integration into Dune brings a wealth of data and insights to the fingertips of users

article-image

A BTC futures fund offered by Hashdex and Tidal Investments has gotten regulatory clearance to hold bitcoin directly

article-image

At launch, Chain Signatures will be compatible with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cosmos network chains, as well as DogeCoin and XRP Ledger