Do Kwon Arrested in Montenegro, Faces Criminal Charges From US Prosecutors

Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon has been arrested in Montenegro after attempting to leave the country with falsified documents.

Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon has been arrested in Montenegro’s capital city Podgorica.

Kwon was detained by local police after he was found carrying falsified documents, tweeted Montenegro’s interior minister Filip Adžić on Thursday.

The Terra founder and an accomplice, Terraform Labs’ CFO Hon Chang Joon, were reportedly trying to board a plane to Dubai at Podgorica airport using forged Costa Rican and Belgian passports.

“We are waiting for official confirmation of identity,” stated Adžić at the time.

Shortly after the announcement of the arrest, an official from Korea’s National Police Agency told Yonhap News that they had confirmed the individual in question to be Kwon based on photo data and the identification he presented. The police are still waiting on fingerprint information from authorities in Montenegro.

U.S. prosecutors brought a fresh set of charges against Kwon, hours after the news of his arrest. The Southern District of New York filed criminal charges against Kwon for his role in the collapse of LUNA and TerraUSD. 

As per the indictment, he faces eight counts, including wire fraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy to defraud and engage in market manipulation. Last month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought a civil lawsuit against Kwon, alleging he orchestrated a “multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud.”

Kwon has repeatedly claimed that he is “not on the run,” despite Sourth Korean authorities stripping him of his passport and Interpol issuing a red notice to law enforcement worldwide, calling for his arrest.

In an episode of Unchained, Kwon explained why he has been reluctant to disclose his location to the public and talks about the events that unfolded during the week of UST’s depegging.