Initial Arrest Reason "Not Possession of a Forged Passport"
Police to Repatriate in Cooperation with Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and Interpol
Kwon Do-hyung, CEO of Terraform Labs, and Han Chang-jun, former CEO of Chai Corporation, key figures in the Terra·Luna crash incident, were apprehended in Montenegro, a Southern European country, after 11 months of fleeing abroad.
On the 24th, the National Police Agency announced, "After confirming the fingerprint information of the individuals arrested by Montenegrin authorities, it was verified that they are Mr. Kwon and Mr. Han."
Philip Adzic, Vice President and Minister of the Interior of Montenegro, stated on the 23rd (local time), "Kwon Do-hyung, a Korean co-founder of Terraform Labs and one of the world's most wanted fugitives, is currently detained," adding, "He is being held at Podgorica International Airport on charges of using forged documents."
According to the police, they were arrested at the departure area of Podgorica Airport after a red notice was confirmed. It is known that at the time of arrest, they were carrying Costa Rican and Belgian passports, not South Korean passports.
Earlier, the Montenegrin Ministry of the Interior reported that they were caught attempting to board a flight to Dubai using forged Costa Rican and Belgian passports.
The prosecution has been investigating on the grounds that CEO Kwon provided false information to cryptocurrency investors despite knowing that Terra·Luna would crash, causing damages exceeding 50 trillion won. In May last year, the prices of the cryptocurrencies Terra and Luna, issued by Kwon’s company Terraform Labs, plummeted by more than 99%.
It is reported that CEO Kwon fled to Eastern Europe’s Serbia via Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), after staying in Singapore at the end of April last year, just before the crash incident.
The Financial Crime Joint Investigation Team of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office judged in September last year that Terra·Luna could be considered securities and issued an arrest warrant for CEO Kwon on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act.
Following this, the prosecution requested international cooperation through Interpol and issued a red notice for CEO Kwon in September last year.
The prosecution recently froze virtual assets worth approximately 95 billion won, including Bitcoin, suspected to have been concealed by CEO Kwon in two separate instances, and invalidated his passport in November last year.
Meanwhile, Kwon Do-hyung, CEO of Terraform Labs, has been indicted by the New York prosecutor’s office in the United States on charges including securities fraud and market manipulation.
On the 23rd (local time), Bloomberg News reported that the New York prosecutor indicted CEO Kwon on a total of eight charges, including securities and commodities fraud and market manipulation.
According to the indictment, CEO Kwon is accused of deceiving investors regarding the technology and user adoption level of the Terra blockchain.
Previously, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also charged CEO Kwon with fraud, alleging that he embezzled more than 10,000 Bitcoins, cashed them out, and deposited the funds in a bank located in Switzerland.
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