Do Kwon to be released on $436K bail ahead of criminal trial in Montenegro

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Embattled Terraform Labs co-founder and CEO Do Kwon and his accomplice Han Chang-Joon is set to be released via bail following a formal notice filed by his legal team to Montenegro’s court system on May 11. 

The Montenegrin court ruled that Kwon and Han would be subjected to house arrest under police supervision on a €400,000 (approximately $436,000) bail for each party. 

Kwon had previously evaded South Korean authorities and Interpol for nearly 11 months before his arrest in a Dubai-bound private jet at Podgorica airport. Kwon and his accomplice were arrested with fake Costa Rican passports after a brief stint in Serbia.

Montenegrin authorities confirmed that Kwon and his accomplice would face prosecution for falsifying travel documents in the country before processing his extradition. If found guilty, Kwon will get up to five years in prison, with the trial scheduled to begin on June 16. 

Kwon and Han have repeatedly denied all charges, laying the groundwork for a lengthy legal showdown. Both South Korea and the U.S. are jockeying for the extradition of Kwon over the sudden collapse of Terra’s ecosystem that cost investors losses of over $10 billion.

South Korean authorities stirred things with a claim that they had gathered enough evidence to jail Kwon for up to 40 years as part of their extradition claims. The U.S. is banking on their previous collaboration with the Montenegrin Department of Justice to secure Kwon’s extradition, but it remains unclear where the pendulum will swing.

“Given the nature of this incident, we think investigating the case in South Korea would be the most efficient way of bringing justice,” Dan Sung-han, head of the South Korean prosecution, said. 

Seizing Kwon’s fortune

After months of searching for traces of Kwon’s assets, South Korean authorities struck gold after they recently uncovered assets worth $176 million belonging to the embattled founder. 

The seized assets include a plush apartment complex in Seoul, an officetel, and a fleet of imported cars in South Korea. Law enforcement agents seized securities and bank deposits belonging to Kwon amid ongoing efforts to freeze his holdings in foreign digital asset exchanges.

Authorities also discovered the purchase of an apartment in Serbia and the creation of a consulting company in the Balkan nation suspected to be used for money laundering purposes. 

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