KEY POINTS

  • TerraUSD, the so-called algorithmic stablecoin of TFL, crashed in May 2022
  • South Korean authorities conducted a wide-range of investigation against Kwon and executives linked to Terra
  • Do Kwon's whereabouts are still unknown to this day

Almost a year following the controversial and epic collapse of the so-called algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST), South Korean authorities have stepped up a notch and pulled all the wires to ensure the arrest and extradition of Terraform Labs (TFL) co-founder and CEO Do Kwon and five other TFL-linked individuals.

As the historic collapse of TerraUSD and the token LUNA nears its anniversary, South Korean prosecutors revealed that they are collaborating with international law enforcement agencies to locate, arrest and extradite the crypto mogul and fugitive Kwon.

While South Korea has earlier worked with Interpol, which eventually placed the TFL CEO on its Red Notice list, which many considered "the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant," it appears that it has not yielded anything productive concerning Kwon's whereabouts.

Due to this, South Korean prosecutors have cranked up their cooperation with international agencies as the founder of Terraform Labs continues to evade authorities, a news outlet reported, adding that prosecutors are also toying with the possibility of extradition to make sure that the fugitive is brought to his home country to face potential criminal charges.

Aside from Kwon, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, through an email, disclosed that the cooperation overseas also includes the return of five other Terraform Labs employees who were named in an arrest warrant issued by the East Asian nation in September 2022.

These employees include Nicholas Platias, the former head of research at TFL, and an individual only identified as Han who used to be the former CEO of Chai Corporation. They are wanted by South Korean authorities for their role in the collapse of TerraUSD in May 2022 which wiped clean more than $5 billion worth of investors' funds.

Financial regulators and law enforcement agencies in the United States have also started investigating the collapse of Terra's so-called algorithm stablecoin.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Southern District of New York prosecutors have reportedly started questioning former Terraform Labs employees in an attempt to get to the bottom of everything.

The report surfaced days after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) slapped Kwon and Terraform Labs with a lawsuit for defrauding investors in what the agency marked as a "multi-billion dollar crypto asset security fraud."

Although Kwon previously claimed on Twitter that he is "not on the run" and that they "are in the process of defending ourselves in multiple jurisdictions and look forward to clarifying the truth over the next few months," he has not tweeted anything related to the case filed by the SEC or to the ongoing investigation by U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Bringing Crypto Mainstream DeFi and Beyond 4-36 screenshot
As a part of SKALE network's mainnet launch series, our CEO, Do Kwon joined Jack O'Holleran CEO of SKALE Labs and Simon Seojoon Kim CEO and managing partner from Hashed talked about bringing crypto mainstream in this panel talk. YouTube Screenshot/Terra Offiicial YouTube Channel