South Korean authorities are seeking the extradition of controversial Terra (LUNA) founder Do Kwon, months after he was found in the Eastern European country of Montenegro.
According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the lead prosecutor in the case says returning Kwon to South Korea is the best way to get justice for the victims of last year’s multibillion-dollar collapse of the Terra ecosystem.
Kwon is accused of making false claims about the digital assets he launched as part of the Terra ecosystem, as well as creating trading bots to falsely boost the transaction numbers of TerraUSD, the protocol’s failed algorithmic stablecoin.
South Korea is currently in talks with US prosecutors to extradite Kwon from Montenegro, where he has been held by authorities since March, according to the report.
According to lead prosecutor Dan Sung-han, although some of Kwon’s fraudulent actions took place in the United States, the evidence suggests that much of it took place in South Korea.
As stated by Dan in an interview with The Wall Street Journal,
“Given the nature of this incident, we believe that investigating the matter in South Korea is the most efficient way to bring justice.”
Dan added that if convicted, Kwon could face the largest jail term ever handed out for financial crimes in South Korea, at more than 40 years.
Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March after attempting to board a flight to the United Arab Emirates with a forged Costa Rican passport. He also faces charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly violating securities laws, which he requested to be dismissed by a court last month.
The Terra ecosystem’s troubles began last May after both its proprietary assets LUNA and TerraUSD collapsed, leading to approximately $40 billion in losses.
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