Do Kwon Faces New Charges in U.S. and Montenegro

Do Kwon is being accused by U.S. prosecutors of committing commodities fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud, and engaging in market manipulation.

Eight Counts of Fraud

Do Kwon’s legal troubles keep worsening.

Yesterday the United States Department of Justice filed a complaint against Terra frontman Do Kwon, charging him with eight different counts of fraud: conspiracy to defraud, two counts of commodities fraud, two counts of securities fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and engaging in market manipulation. The DOJ is seeking Kwon’s extradition to the U.S., according to CoinDesk.

Kwon was apprehended yesterday in Montenegro, at Podgorica airport. Local media reported that the Terraform Labs CEO was attempting to board a flight to Dubai by using a fake Costa Rican passport. He was also carrying South Korean and Belgian travel documents.

Kwon’s arrest was made public by Montenegrin Minister of Internal Affairs Filip Adžić, who announced on Twitter that Montenegrin police had detained “a person suspected of being one of the most wanted fugitives, South Korean citizen Do Kwon.” South Korean authorities later confirmed Kwon’s identity through photographic data and fingerprint information.

In addition to the new charges brought to him by U.S. prosecutors, Kwon is also facing criminal charges in Montenegro for document forgery. He is due to appear today at Podgorica’s Higher Court for an extradition request hearing. It is unclear whether Kwon will be extradited to South Korea or the United States; however, his arrest was originally conducted on a South Korean warrant.

Prior to his capture, Kwon had repeatedly stated that he was “not on the run”, despite Interpol issuing a red notice for him in September—effectively making him a wanted man in 195 different nations. 

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and several other crypto assets.