Terra’s Do Kwon Reportedly Founded Crypto Firm In Serbia, S. Korea Seeks Extradition

Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, was detained at an airport in Podgorica, Montenegro on Thursday, South Korean prosecutors and Interpol have now confirmed his identity. South Korea, the U.S., and Singapore seek extradition of Do Kwon.

The Serbian High-Tech Criminal Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Federal Prosecutor’s Office disclosed that Do Kwon and former Chai Corp CEO Han Chang-joon established a crypto business in Serbia, reported South Korea’s new media Digital Asset on March 24.

In February, a joint team from Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office visited Serbia after the Serbian Ministry of Justice and prosecutors shared details about Do Kwon with the South Korean prosecutors. While crypto-friendly Serbia doesn’t have an extradition treaty with South Korea, the authorities tried to help South Korean prosecutors. Prosecutors are reportedly confirming whether Do Kwon starting a crypto business in Serbia or a paper company for money laundering.

In December, CoinGape Media reported that Do Kwon exchanged Bitcoin worth $190K from the Luna Foundation Guard for cash in Serbia. The on-chain data analysis also revealed a transfer of $10,000.

In February, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit disclosed that Do Kwon and his company secretly processed over 10,000 BTC out of the company and converted some tokens into cash via a Swiss bank. The SEC accused Terraform Labs and its co-founder of committing a $40 billion securities fraud involving LUNA and Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST).

South Korea Seeks Extradition of Do Kwon

According to South Korea’s news agency Yonhap, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office started the process of extradition of Do Kwon from Montenegro. Singapore is reportedly seeking the extradition of Do Kwon too as his company TFL was established in Singapore.

Meanwhile, the US Dept. of Justice also seeks Do Kwon’s extradition to the US. In fact, the DOJ’s US Attorney SDNY filed an indictment in the Southern District Court of New York with eight counts of charges. It includes conspiracy to defraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to engage in market manipulation.

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