Kwon Do-Hyung, also known as Do Kwon, the former CEO of Terraform Labs, has been taken into custody by U.S. authorities on fraud charges. The arrest, which reportedly occurred in Montenegro on Thursday, is related to the crash of TerraUSD stablecoin last year.
Do Kwon, the former CEO of Terraform Laboratories, was charged with eight counts of securities fraud, products fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News announced the allegations late Thursday, marking a significant advance in the ongoing probe.
Do Kwon: International fugitive on the run
After going missing in the autumn of last year in response to a warrant for his arrest issued by the government of his nation, South Korea, Kwon was thought to be hiding somewhere in another country.
On Thursday morning, Filip Adi, Montenegro’s Minister of Interior, announced on Twitter that Do Kwon, the erstwhile “cryptocurrency king,” had been detained at Podgorica Aerodrome. Adi accused Kwon of having fraudulent papers and implicated him in a $40 billion loss. Adi further alleged that numerous nations, including South Korea, the United States, and Singapore, had made similar claims against Kwon. This story highlights the rising worries about bitcoin fraud and the necessity for more stringent restrictions.
Nekadašnji “kralj kriptovaluta”, koji stoji iza gubitaka većih od 40 milijardi dolara, lišen je slobode na podgoričkom aerodromu sa falsifikovanim dokumentima, a istog potražuju Južna Koreja, SAD i Singapur.
Čekamo zvaničnu potvrdu identiteta.
2/2— Filip Adzic (@filip_adzic) March 23, 2023
Do Kwon arrested in Montenegro
After being on the run for a long time, Do Kwon, a South Korean national and a suspected fraudster, was finally captured at Podgorica Aerodrome by the Montenegrin police. The Minister of Interior, Filip Adžić, referred to Kwon as “one of the world’s most wanted fugitives” and confirmed his arrest. The authorities suspect Kwon’s involvement in fraudulent activities, although the details of the charges against him are yet to be revealed.
Following the allegations made by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February accusing Singapore-based Terraform Labs PTE Ltd and its CEO of fraud, Do Kwon has been arrested in Montenegro. The charges against Kwon and Terraform Labs PTE Ltd were related to deceiving and misleading investors while promoting the Luna token, which experienced a crash in May 2022, causing a ripple effect throughout the cryptocurrency industry, as stated in a press release from the SEC.
