The founder of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, is reported to have been arrested in Montenegro. A tweet by the country’s minister of interior, Filip Adzic disclosed.
Kwon has been the target of several investigations and was even on Interpol’s red notice after the collapse of stablecoin terraUSD (UST) estimated at slightly over $40 billion in market value.
According to the minister’s tweet which was also sighted by Investors King, Do Kwon was called “one of the world’s most wanted fugitives.” He was alleged to be travelling under a false name with fake documents.
Kwon had earlier claimed on Twitter that he was not “on the run,” but refused to disclose his whereabouts due to worries about his personal security.
In September 2022, South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for Mr Kwon stating that his company Terraform Labs had violated capital market rules.
Similarly earlier this year, US regulators accused Mr Kwon and his company Terraform Labs of “orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud”.
The charges specifically cite that Kwon lied to customers and investors in interviews and social media posts about how many people were using the Terra blockchain ecosystem. SEC has also alleged that Kwon has been living large after transferring 10,000 bitcoin to an unnamed Swiss bank.
Meanwhile, Interpol has confirmed the arrest of Do Kwon, stating that his arrest was confirmed through a fingerprint match. Do Kwon has been on the watch list of the International police following his complicity in the collapse of the Terra Ecosystem. He is expected to be extradited to the United States where the court has declared him wanted.
About Do Kwon
Kwon, a South Korean national, founded the blockchain platform behind the TerraUSD stablecoin and its sister coin Luna. Both coins lost their value in a matter of days in May 2022, wiping about $40 billion from the crypto market and setting off panic across the cryptocurrency industry.