Houses of Terra Employees Raided, Korean Authorities Seize $160M
- The Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office raided the homes of 8 people connected to Terra’s collapse, including Daniel Shin.
- South Korean authorities have taken control of the houses of the employees of Kwon’s company and seized around 210 billion won, or $160 million.
- The $160 million seized from the houses of around eight Terra employees mostly involves real estate.
- Prosecutors took control of the properties owned by the former Terra VP Kim Mo and an unnamed executive, worth roughly $60 million and $31 million, respectively.
The collapse of stablecoin Terra USD, now USTC, wiped off around $60 billion from the crypto market capitalization, and many investors lost their entire life’s savings. Interestingly, the founder of Terraform Labs, the company responsible for the entire fiasco, Do Kwon, has been apprehended and is awaiting extradition to the United States. Meanwhile, South Korean authorities have taken control of the houses of the employees of Kwon’s company and seized around $160 million.
According to reports from local media outlets, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office raided the houses of eight people that were connected to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, including co-founder Shin Hyun-Seong, also known as Daniel Shin. An April 3 report from South Korean news outlet KBS confirms that authorities seized roughly 210 billion won, or $160 million.
It is important to mention here that Shin also has multiple fraud charges specifically associated with hiding the risks tied to investing in and trading in the in-house tokens of the Terra ecosystem. An attempt to issue an arrest warrant for the co-founder by South Korean prosecutors resulted in failure. The Seoul Southern District Court denied the request, citing unconfirmed allegations and the unlikeliness of Shin being a flight risk or destroying evidence.
On the other hand, the $160 million seized from the houses of around eight Terra employees mostly involves real estate, and it is crucial to note that the prosecutors in the case took control of the houses and properties owned by the former Terra Vice President Kim Mo and an unnamed executive worth roughly $60 million and $31 million, respectively.
“We are still investigating the property ownership status of the suspects, and we plan to carry out collection preservation for the confirmed property in the future in order to recover the proceeds of crime and recover damages,” said a spokesperson for the prosecution team.
It is crucial to note that the prosecutors’ actions were part of the plan to prevent the Terra employees from parting with their assets in an attempt to ensure their safety from the potential criminal proceedings. A similar procedure was followed by the authorities in November when they seized Shin’s house in Seoul, and they are still investigating if the co-founder has other properties in his name as well.
The report did not mention the seizure of any crypto assets, and an important fact is that the authorities haven’t issued a warrant in the name of Shin. Meanwhile, Korean authorities want Kwon extradited to the country.
As reported earlier by Bitnation, Do Kwon is 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. Interestingly, according to prosecutor Haris Šabotić, the investigation will be complete before April 23, and if enough evidence cannot be found, Kwon will be relieved of charges.
Both the US and South Korea have demanded the extradition of Kwon, and it is up to a Montenegrin judge to decide where to send the founder of the Terra ecosystem.
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.
