Do Kwon Pre-Paid His Attorneys $7M Prior to Terra Collapse
- South Korean prosecutors claim that prior to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, its founder, Do Kwon, prepaid a top-notch law firm in South Korea.
- A report claims that around 9 billion won ($7 million) were sent to law firm Kim & Chang prior to the collapse of the UST (now USTC) stablecoins.
- The prosecutors now have reason to believe that the crypto entrepreneur knew that his crypto ecosystem would collapse and was prepared to face legal troubles.
- Do Kwon is currently in Montenegro and is being prosecuted for the use of forged Costa Rican passports to enter the country.
- Both the US and South Korea have requested his extradition, but it is up to the Montenegrin judge to decide to which country he goes.
The Terra ecosystem collapsed in May 2022, wiping off around $40 billion from the crypto space and opening a string of bankruptcies that lasted throughout the year, starting with crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and crypto lender Celsius Network. The founder of the ecosystem, Do Kwon, vanished into thin air following the collapse, remaining only active via his official account on the social media platform Twitter. Interestingly, a report claims that the crypto entrepreneur prepaid his lawyers to represent him in court.
A report from KBS News claims that right before the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, a top law firm in South Korea, Kim & Chang, received close to 9 billion won ($7 million) for representing Do Kwon in the regional courts. Additionally, the South Korean prosecutors have found out that this prepayment took place knowing that the UST stablecoin (now USTC) would lose its peg to the United States dollar.
The report added that South Korean prosecutors believe that Do Kwon deliberately pulled the plug on the Terra ecosystem and duped investors out of billions of dollars. Moreover, he even expected legal troubles that would follow the collapse of Terra in 2022, and as a result, he pre-paid the top-notch law firm in South Korea. Prosecutors argued that the crypto entrepreneur knew everything that would happen and paid the law firm to protect him.
While tying up this loose end, South Korean prosecutors said that this would show the ill intentions of Do Kwon and his readiness for the same, while adding that this fact also serves as crucial evidence for the ongoing fraud case against the founder of Terraform Labs, the company responsible for the development and creation of the Terra ecosystem.
The prosecutors also noted that the lawyers working on the fraud case of Do Kwon at Kim & Chang visited the crypto entrepreneur in the Montenegro jail where he was found a few weeks ago and was arrested for producing forged documents while arriving in the European country. Terraform Lab’s former chief financial officer, Han Chang-joon, was also present during the visit.
It is crucial to note that Do Kwon and Han Chang-joon were trying to fly to Dubai using fake passports and identification details and were arrested at Podgorica airport in Montenegro. Further, the United States and South Korea have demanded the extradition of the Terra founder, and the decision rests with a Montenegrin judge.
Interestingly, Montenegro is geographically south of Serbia and shares borders with the country, and as reported earlier by Bitnation, South Korean authorities traced the crypto entrepreneur’s location to Serbia in December 2022.
Do Kwon is currently being prosecuted for the use of forged Costa Rican passports to enter Montenegro, and if found guilty, he faces up to five years in prison. Prosecutor Haris Šabotić is in charge of the case and said that he would complete his investigations by April 23. However, if enough evidence could not be found, the Terra founder would be extradited to the US or South Korea.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
