Montenegro Prime Minister Spajic Suspected of Involvement with Kwon Do-hyung
"The Company Was Defrauded"... Personal Names Included in the List
A controversy has erupted after it was revealed that Milo ?ukanovi?, the current Prime Minister of Montenegro, is among the early investors of Terraform Labs, the company founded by Do Kwon, the central figure in the ‘Terra·Luna crash incident.’ On the 18th (local time), local media 'Vijesti' reported, "According to documents related to Terraform Labs submitted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the Southern District Court of New York, the name of Prime Minister Milo ?ukanovi? appears among the 81 early investors from the company's founding in April 2018 until the summer of 2021."
Initially, Prime Minister ?ukanovi? denied direct involvement with Terraform Labs, stating, "The Singapore fund company 'Das Capital SG,' where I was employed at the time, invested $75,000 (about 100 million KRW) in Terraform Labs and was defrauded." He claimed that he worked at the company from March 2017 to February 2020 and that the investment was made by the company, not by him personally. However, the SEC’s list of early investors submitted to the court reportedly does not include the name of this company.
Contrary to Prime Minister ?ukanovi?’s explanation, it was found that he personally purchased 750,000 Luna coins on April 17, 2018, at 10 cents each. The Luna coins he bought once surged to $119 each (about 164,500 KRW) in April 2022, and if he had sold them at the peak price, he could have made a profit close to $90 million (about 124.4 billion KRW). However, the Luna coin subsequently crashed and became ‘worthless’ within a month. According to the media, political insiders said he complained about losing a huge amount of money in the crash at the time.
If Prime Minister ?ukanovi? had suffered a significant loss, he might have filed a fraud lawsuit against Do Kwon like other investors. Conversely, if he made a huge profit, suspicions of tax evasion could arise, and he would need to explain why this was omitted from his public official asset declaration. However, the Prime Minister’s office reportedly did not provide any response to inquiries on this matter.
Andrej Milovi?, Minister of Justice and a close aide to Prime Minister ?ukanovi?, said on the same day, “Prime Minister ?ukanovi? was defrauded by Do Kwon just like millions of others.” The civic group URA stated, "SEC’s documents have exposed Prime Minister ?ukanovi?’s lies to the public," and criticized, "He claimed that the company he worked for was defrauded by Do Kwon without mentioning his personal investment. It has been revealed that he did not tell the truth in front of the public."
URA added, "The suspicions related to Prime Minister ?ukanovi? have entered a new phase," and urged, "He should immediately resign, and the relevant authorities must thoroughly investigate these allegations."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
