Here’s Who Helped US SEC Prepares Fraud Case Against Terra’s Do Kwon: WSJ

The defense team of Terra and Do Kwon said a Jump Crypto whistleblower helped the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) build a case against the defendants. The SEC accused Terra and Do Kwon of multi-billion crypto fraud, misleading investors about UST algorithmic stablecoin (now USTC), and violating securities and exchange regulations.

Jump Crypto Whistleblower Assisted SEC Against Do Kwon

A mystery “Jump whistleblower” assisted the U.S. SEC in bringing a fraud case against Terra creator Do Kwon, defense lawyer Douglas Henkin said in a court on November 30. The SEC claims Jump Trading’s crypto arm Jump Crypto had a secret deal with Do Kwon to manipulate UST stablecoin price in May 2021.

Anonymous whistleblowers provided evidence to the U.S. SEC in filing fraud charges against Do Kwon, including one whistleblower from market-making giant Jump Trading Group. Henkin argued the whistleblower who provided evidence admitted during his testimony that he had no direct, first-hand knowledge of the 2021 transactions, as per Wall Street Journal.

The SEC accused Do Kwon of deceiving investors by publicly claiming that his partner Daniel Shin’s Chai firm used the Terra blockchain to settle payment transactions.

Mark Califano, another attorney for Do Kwon, cleared Judge Rakoff that the firm actually used traditional payment technology. Lawyers called the whistleblower “extremely biased” and said he was “caught lying multiple times.”

Read More: Binance Burns 4 Billion Terra Luna Classic (LUNC) Tokens

Do Kwon Extradition in Process

On November 24, the Montenegro High Court approved the extradition of Do Kwon to South Korea or the United States. Montenegro’s Minister of Justice Andrej Milović will decide which country has priority in case of possible extradition.

Judge Rakoff agreed to submissions of discovery documents as sealed from Jump Crypto due to concerns over the whistleblower’s identity. However, the court reminded Terra, Do Kwon, and related parties about the discretion to make public any confidential information submitted later in the motion practice or trial. The court will provide prior notice to the defendants’ counsel when the disclosure of confidential documents is termed necessary by the court.

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