Home Tech The fugitive “crypto crash” boss, Do Kwon, has been apprehended in Montenegro.

The fugitive “crypto crash” boss, Do Kwon, has been apprehended in Montenegro.

by THE GULF TALK

The fugitive cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon, responsible for the collapse of the terraUSD and Luna tokens worth $40 billion (£32.5 billion), has been arrested in Montenegro, according to South Korean police. He has also been charged with fraud by US prosecutors. Earlier this year, Terraform Labs, Kwon’s company, was accused by US regulators of orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud.

Last September, South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for Kwon, suspecting that Terraform Labs had violated capital market rules. Though they believed Kwon was in Serbia, officials could not negotiate with Belgrade as the two nations lack an extradition treaty. While Kwon had previously denied being in hiding, he never revealed his location.

Montenegro’s interior minister, Filip Adzic, announced on Twitter that a “world’s most wanted fugitive” had been arrested at Podgorica’s airport. The man was reportedly traveling under a false name with fake documents, and authorities were waiting for official confirmation of his identity.

South Korean police later confirmed that the arrested suspect was Do Kwon, who had been wanted for violating capital market rules. Kwon has been separately charged with fraud by US prosecutors and faces multiple charges, including securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud, and conspiracy.

Since Montenegro does not have extradition treaties with the US or South Korea, it remains unclear how Kwon will be extradited to face charges. In February, US financial regulators accused Kwon and Terraform Labs of misleading investors and failing to disclose important information about the Luna and TerraUSD tokens. The collapse of these tokens caused a sell-off in major cryptocurrencies and resulted in billions of dollars in losses for investors worldwide, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.

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