Do Kwon, cofounder of the collapsed crypto scheme Terra-Luna, was charged with fraud by U.S. prosecutors shortly after local authorities arrested him in Montenegro. A grand jury in New York federal court charged Kwon with securities fraud, wire fraud and commodities fraud, the indictment shows. In February, the SEC already charged Do Kwon and Terraform Labs with fraud.
The U.S. prosecutors in made public an eight-count indictment against Kwon in connection with his cryptocurrency business. The indictment charged him with various forms of fraud – including securities fraud, commodities fraud, and conspiracy to defraud and engage in market manipulation.
Montenegro’s Interior Ministry said Thursday it had “detained” Kwon and taken him and another South Korean national to a prosecutor’s office in the capital on charges of forging documents. South Korea had reportedly asked Interpol to issue a “red notice” allowing other countries to detain Kwon temporarily.
The collapse of the Terra-Luna scheme triggered the bankruptcy of other crypto schemes such as Three Arrows Capital, Celius Network, Voyager Digital, and finally FTX. Before the crash, Kwon was highly regarded before the crash, while his fans called themselves “Lunatics” after his token. He graduated from Stanford University and worked briefly for Apple before founding several crypto projects, including Luna.
Kwon’s case has been closely watched as governments worldwide weigh how they prosecute cases related to cryptocurrencies and how aggressively they pursue the entrepreneurs behind the coins. Among them is FTX founder Bankman-Fried, who is under house arrest while awaiting several civil and criminal charges brought against him by government authorities.