In a major development in the ongoing investigation of Do Kwon, the CEO of Terraform Labs, a South Korean court has granted a request from prosecutors to freeze Kwon’s domestic assets worth KRW 233.3 billion (USD 176 million).
Kim Hee-kyung, spokesperson for the Seoul prosecutor’s office, confirmed that the seized assets include Kwon’s private residence in Seoul, real estate, imported vehicles, securities deposited with Mirae Asset Securities, deposits at Woori Bank, and cryptocurrency held on various exchanges.
Under the court’s decision, Kwon is prohibited from moving or selling any assets deemed to be illegally gained profits until a final court ruling, after which the assets will be confiscated. A spokesperson explained, “The KRW 233.3 billion is the amount of assets that correspond to the illegal profits [Kwon] has earned and will be used for compensation.”
The prosecutor’s office declined to comment further on Kwon’s assets in South Korea or the process of seeking cooperation from foreign authorities to freeze his assets outside the country.
Kwon is currently wanted by authorities in both South Korea and the United States, where he is accused of running a project called Terra-Luna to defraud investors. He and Terraform are also accused of providing unregistered securities services.
Dan Sung-han, director of the general financial crimes team of the Southern Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office, told The Wall Street Journal last week that Kwon could face over 40 years in prison if convicted, making it the heaviest sentence ever handed down to a financial criminal in the country’s history.
Kwon has repeatedly denied all allegations against him, insisting that mistakes were made but claiming that the projects were not designed to deceive investors.
Kwon was arrested in September 2022 in Singapore before fleeing to Serbia, where he was subsequently arrested in Montenegro on March 23 of this year. A trial in Montenegro for charges of forging travel documents is scheduled for May 11.
Source: https://azcoinnews.com/terraform-labs-ceos-assets-worth-176-million-frozen-by-south-korean-court.html
