The co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, is facing the possibility of multiple sentences in both the United States and South Korea, according to a senior South Korean prosecutor leading the investigation. Currently, under house bail in Montenegro, Kwon, and Terraform Labs’ chief financial officer, Han Chang-Joon, must reside at Chang-Joon’s legal residence in Montenegro while awaiting a decision on extradition.
Speaking to Bloomberg, prosecutor Dan Sunghan stated that it would make more sense to extradite Kwon to South Korea in order to bring justice and recover damages for victims. Sunghan explained that most of the initial investigation into the collapse of the Terra ecosystem was conducted in South Korea, and local authorities have access to more evidence compared to their American counterparts.
He believes that the most efficient way to ensure justice is to have the investigation and trial take place in South Korea, emphasizing that South Korean authorities have already indicted several individuals involved in the case alongside Kwon.
“The most efficient way to get justice is to have the investigation and trial take place in South Korea.”
Do Kwon charges
When asked about the possibility of Kwon facing trials in both the U.S. and South Korea, Sunghan acknowledged that such a scenario is an option. If South Korean authorities do not account for all the crimes Kwon is charged within the U.S., it is possible for him to be sent to the U.S. for prosecution after serving his sentence in South Korea.
Sunghan mentioned that the potential sentence in South Korea could be the longest ever handed down in the country. Do Kwon’s cold wallet, believed to contain 10,000 Bitcoin, remains untraceable, with authorities only able to see funds being moved from the wallet but unable to determine its location or the withdrawal process.
Describing the case as the largest financial fraud or financial securities fraud in South Korean history, Sunghan revealed that Do Kwon was detained by Montenegro authorities on March 23 when he attempted to leave the country using fake documents. Both the U.S. and South Korean authorities have requested his extradition. However, the extradition process can take up to nine months for processing.
In the midst of these developments, South Korean authorities have started reviewing Binance’s acquisition deals in the country. The Financial Service Committee (FSC) of South Korea is scrutinizing Binance’s acquisition of local crypto trading platform Gopax. The FSC has expressed concerns about Binance’s alleged securities law violations and the SEC’s requests to freeze Binance.US assets, making it challenging to accept the acquisition request at this point.
The investigations and legal battles surrounding Do Kwon, Terraform Labs, and Binance highlight the increasing scrutiny and regulatory challenges faced by the cryptocurrency industry globally. As the case unfolds, it remains to be seen how the legal proceedings in both the U.S. and South Korea will progress and how they will impact the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem.
