South Korean Authorities ‘in the Process’ of Freezing Do Kwon’s Assets
Do Kwon’s arrest is just the tip of the iceberg for South Korean prosecutors
Artwork by Axel Rangel modified by Blockworks
South Korean authorities await a court order to freeze $5.3 million of Terraform co-founder Do Kwon’s assets.
They’re also working to track down overseas proceeds and Swiss bank accounts. Prosecutors have reportedly asked Binance to stop any withdrawals from Kwon on the crypto exchange.
Kwon has been under investigation by officials in his home country since last fall, when authorities claim Kwon refused to cooperate. Prosecutors are investigating Kwon for fraud, tax evasion, deception of investors and capital markets laws violations.
An Interpol red notice — a call to law enforcement across the world designed to allow arrests and make it difficult for criminals to cross borders — was issued back in September after South Korea issued an arrest warrant for Kwon and accused him of being on the run.
That ultimately led to his arrest in March, at the airport in Podgorica, the capital city of Montenegro.
Both South Korea and the United States are now looking to extradite Kwon, though he currently faces a local investigation into the validity of his passport. Extradition to either country isn’t expected to happen soon.
South Korea invalidated Kwon’s passport back in November. Prior to his arrest, Kwon claimed that he was not on the run, but kept his location private due to safety concerns.
The US has charged him with fraud, and conspiring to manipulate the price of TerraUSD.
He also faces a lawsuit in Singapore brought by 369 investors who claim to lost around $57 million in the TerraUSD collapse. Investors claim Kwon made “fraudulent misrepresentations” about the stability of the stablecoin and seek damages.
The algorithmic stablecoin Kwon co-founded, TerraUSD, lost its dollar peg last May and wiped $40 billion in value from cryptocurrency markets, with $20.5 billion of that coming from personal wallets according to Chainalysis.
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