South Korea Issues Arrest Warrant For TerraUSD’s Do Kwon
Do Kwon, the co-founder of failed TerraUSD cryptocurrency, is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by South Korean authorities
South Korea has issued an arrest warrant for the co-founder of TerraUSD cryptocurrency Do Kwon, four months after its spectacular collapse triggered a global crypto collapse.
Bloomberg reported that the warrant was issued by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, and the warrant is not only for Do Kwon, but also five others he worked with at Terraform Labs.
The arrest for warrant Do Kwon and five others (reportedly including Terraform founder Nicholas Platias and Han Mo, an employee at the firm) alleges violations of the South Korea’s capital markets law.
Arrest warrant
All six individuals are located in Singapore, the prosecutor’s office was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.
South Korean authorities recognise that it will be harder to arrest him due to him being overseas, and have reportedly made the arrest warrant valid for one year.
South Korean authorities also reportedly indicated they intend to work with Interpol to arrest Kwon.
Do Kwon didn’t immediately reply to an email seeking comment Bloomberg reported, but he moved to Singapore with his family following the collapse of his $40 billion digital asset project.
This move could have prompted after the arrest of a South Korean crypto investor and social media personality called ‘Chancers’, who conducts streams on cryptocurrency-related topics.
Chancers was arrested in May after ringing the doorbell of Kwon’s condominium and speaking with his wife.
Chancers expressed regret for the intrusion, according to local media, but called for Kwon to appear in public and apologise to investors.
Chancers said he lost up to 3 billion won (£1.9m) in the crash, and said he came across Kwon’s home address on the internet.
He visited Kwon’s home on 12 May, livestreaming the visit to about 100 people via South Korea’s AfreecaTV streaming platform.
Kwon’s wife then telephoned police to ask for emergency protection.
Criminal investigation
The reclusive Kwon, whose company Terraform Labs is registered in Singapore, has been compared to Elizabeth Holmes, found guilty in January of defrauding investors in her company Theranos.
It is estimated that nearly 250,000 people had invested in Terraform Labs’ coins.
Kwon says neither he nor his company made money on the crash.
It is known that South Korea’s Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Team has been investigating Terraform Labs and the coins’ collapse.
In July, South Korean prosecutors reportedly raided the home of Terraform Labs co-founder Daniel Shin.
And more than 1,600 investors have signed up for a class-action lawsuit against Kwon with two domestic law firms, LKB & Partners LLC and Kisung LLC.
Kwon has not exactly helped his cause. He is known for his caustic remarks about detractors, and told a YouTube crypto channel a week before the demise of TerraUSD, “95 percent [of coins] are going to die – but there’s also entertainment in watching companies die too.”
Just before the implosion he told followers on Twitter, “I love chaos.”
But on 13 May he tweeted, “I am heartbroken about the pain my invention has brought on all of you.”
