South Korean prosecutors pulling all strings to secure Do Kwon’s arrest, extradition: report

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As the search for embattled Terra founder Do Kwon enters its 12th month, South Korean prosecutors are looking to collaborate with international law enforcement agencies to find the fugitive founder.

Prosecutors disclosed they will pursue increased international cooperation to secure Do Kwon’s arrest as he evades authorities, Forkast reported. They added that exploring the option of extradition to ensure that Kwon is brought to the country to face criminal charges is being considered.

Five other individuals were included in an arrest warrant issued by South Korean police, including former Head of Research at Terraform Labs Nicholas Platias and a former CEO at Chai Corporation. All five are wanted in connection to their role in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem back in 2022, costing losses of above $5 billion for investors of the failed project.

As a show of their resolve, South Korean prosecutors flew to Serbia to meet with authorities to collaborate on Do Kwon’s arrest and extradition. Intelligence sources claimed that Do Kwon had arrived in the Balkan country using Dubai as a getaway as authorities were closing in on him in Singapore.

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued a “red notice” to member bodies urging them to arrest Kwon, which experts have termed to be “the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant.” The red notice came on the heels of South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety revoking Do Kwon’s passport, effectively making him a global fugitive.

Despite the massive manhunt for his arrest, Kwon regularly interfaces with the public on Twitter, where he repeatedly maintains his innocence and says he is not hiding. The embattled founder said he accepts full responsibility for the de-pegging of the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) but maintains that there was no underlying fraud that caused the collapse.

“I am not on the run or anything similar,” said Kwon on Twitter. “We are in the process of defending ourselves in multiple jurisdictions and look forward to clarifying the truth over the next few months.”

An avalanche of lawsuits

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Terraform Labs and its founder for defrauding investors in what it described as a “multi-billion dollar crypto asset security fraud.” The SEC added that the firm’s claim of an algorithmic stablecoin was false and failed to make truthful disclosures to its investors.

“As alleged in our complaint, the Terraform ecosystem was neither decentralized nor finance,” said SEC’s Division of Enforcement Gurbir Grewal. “It was simply a fraud propped up by a so-called algorithmic stablecoin—the price of which was controlled by the defendants, not by code.”

Singapore’s police are also launching a full-scale investigation into the activities of Terraform Labs as South Korean investigators crank up efforts in securing a conviction on affiliated individuals.

Watch: Law & Order Regulatory Compliance for Blockchain & Digital Assets