(Podgorica) A justice in Montenegro on Monday sentenced Do Kwon, South Korean founder of the Terra cryptocurrency, to four months in prison for falsifying documents after his arrest in possession of false passports.
The founder of Terraform, arrested in March at an airport in the small Balkan country, also faces extradition requests from South Korea and the United States.
Seoul and Washington are claiming the entrepreneur, whose full name is Kwon Do-hyung, for his role in the fraud linked to the spectacular collapse of his company in 2022, which caused the loss of some 40 billion dollars (37 billion euros). euros) to investors and rattled the cryptocurrency markets.
In the false documents case, a court found that Do Kwon and his financial director, arrested at the same time, were “guilty of using false passports” from Costa Rica, according to a court statement. The two men also had Belgian passports in different names in their luggage, according to the same source.
Do Kwon’s lawyer said he has no plans to appeal the conviction at this time.
This judgment was rendered a few days after the extension for six months of the pre-trial detention of the South Korean entrepreneur in the extradition procedure.
Do Kwon had fled South Korea for Singapore after Terraform collapsed in May 2022.
In September, South Korean prosecutors asked Interpol to redlist him and revoke his passport.
Terraform Labs is the parent company of the “stable cryptocurrency” Terra. In principle, so-called stablecoins guarantee more security for investors in this very volatile universe.
Cryptocurrencies have come under increasing scrutiny since series of crashes, controversies and the bankruptcy of FTX, one of their most important exchanges.
The digital currency sector also suffered from the bank failures of the American companies Silvergate and Signature.
Since his arrest in Montenegro, the South Korean entrepreneur has been the subject of political controversy before the last early legislative elections.
The controversy arose when interim prime minister Dritan Abazovic and his allies accused the chairman of the new pro-European party Europe Now! Milojko Spajic for maintaining ties with Kwon.
According to political commentators, these allegations may have affected Europe’s performance now!. The party won a quarter of the vote, narrowly beating its rivals, forcing it to build a coalition if it wants to govern the country.