Author: Turner Wright, CoinTelegraph; Translation: Deng Tong, Golden Financial
The U.S. Attorney's Office has added another charge against Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon for conspiracy to commit money laundering following his extradition from Montenegro to the U.S.
On January 2, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York released an amended indictment, in which U.S. Attorney Damian Williams charged Kwon with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to U.S. prosecutors, the Terraform co-founder facilitated transactions over $10,000 on the platform, "knowing that the property involved in certain financial transactions represented the proceeds of some form of illegal activity."
The amended indictment against Do Kwon was released on January 2. Source: Courtlistener
The money laundering charges are part of the amended indictment and were not initially raised as part of the eight charges against Kwon in March 2023. Prosecutors submitted the indictment under seal in May 2024, and the judge ordered it unsealed when Kwon appeared in court on January 2.
It is alleged that Kwon was involved in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022, and he was imprisoned in Montenegro in 2023 for using forged travel documents. Authorities in the U.S. and South Korea submitted competing petitions for the extradition of the Terraform co-founder, but Montenegrin officials did not decide on his legal status until December 2024, at which point Kwon was handed over to U.S. officials.
Trial or plea agreement?
The Terraform co-founder appeared in court on January 2, pleading not guilty to all charges and agreeing to be detained. It remains unclear whether U.S. authorities will consider a plea agreement or intend to proceed with a criminal trial.
Kwon's case is similar to that of former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, another cryptocurrency executive who was subject to another country's (the Bahamas) jurisdiction before being extradited to the U.S. In SBF's case, his lawyers were able to argue that the campaign finance charges added in the amended indictment should be dismissed, as they were not part of the extradition request.
Bankman-Fried was later convicted of seven felonies and sentenced to 25 years in prison, but he has appealed.
Another prominent figure in the industry— former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao—pleaded guilty to one charge and is serving a four-month sentence in 2024.