According to the latest news, Terra LUNA founder Do Kwon will be released after the Montenegrin court accepted $436,000 bail. The court arrested Kwon in March. Prosecutors accused Kwon of trying to leave Montenegro with a fake passport.
Will the Terra LUNA founder go free?
Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon will be released from prison to stand trial after a court in Montenegro accepted a €400,000 ($436,000) bail, local news site Pobjeda reported. As you follow on Kriptokoin.com, the court arrested Kwon in Montenegro in March. Authorities accused him of trying to leave the country using a fake passport. South Korean national Han Chang-Joon, the country’s interior ministry Kwon and former chief financial officer of Terraform, said they tried to board a private plane to Dubai with fake Costa Rican travel documents.
According to the report, the court also ordered Han’s release on €400,000 bail. Meanwhile, the prosecution has three days to appeal the decision. Terraform Labs’ stablecoin, TerraUSD, known by the acronym UST, crashed a year ago this week. In that collapse, it swept away tens of billions of dollars from investors. The crisis was the first of many to hit crypto markets throughout 2022, including the bankruptcies of crypto lender Celsius and stock market giant FTX.
Terra LUNA inventor says it’s innocence!
Prosecutors seemed reluctant to be released on bail in this case. At yesterday’s hearing, where Kwon denied the charges, prosecutors were also reluctant to bail. Defense attorney Branko Andjelic sought bail of €400,000 ($437,000) for each person. He also suggested house arrest at Do Kwon’s girlfriend’s house. However, prosecutor Haris Sabotic strongly objected, citing his financial resources and the potential risk of escape.
As part of the bail conditions, authorities will keep Kwon and Terra manager Han Chang-joon under surveillance. Accordingly, it will imprison individuals in their apartments. Police caught both men at Montenegro airport in March for allegedly using fake travel documents. Both people claim that the passports they use are genuine.
Do Kwon continues to be sought after in Korea
Terra LUNA founder Do Kwon is also facing legal challenges in Korea and the US from the collapse of TerraUSD. A South Korean court did not issue an arrest warrant for Kwon in September for violating capital market laws. Korean prosecutors reportedly traveled to Serbia, on the border with Montenegro, in February to track down Kwon.
In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission also brought legal charges against Kwon. He accused Kwon of “not making public the full, fair and accurate disclosure required for a range of crypto-asset securities.”
Extradition to the USA and South Korea
Do Kwon said yesterday that he would not flee if he was released on bail. In this context, he said, “I accept the security measures, I will come when requested.” There are allegations that Kwon has $100 million in a Swiss bank. Thus, observers judge that the bail amount for such a person is probably modest. Both the United States and South Korea have requested the couple’s extradition from Montenegro to face criminal charges linked to the collapse of Terraform Labs. Kwon first disappeared shortly after the Terra LUNA explosion. The ensuing crisis swept away $45 billion in market value within a week.
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