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South Korean cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon made his first appearance in a Manhattan courtroom after the co-founder of the bankrupt Terraform Labs was extradited from Montenegro on Tuesday to face criminal charges in the US.
A new indictment unsealed on Thursday adds a new count of money laundering to the eight original charges announced last year against Kwon — including securities, commodities and wire fraud — over Terraform Labs’ 2022 collapse, which led to a $40bn implosion of its TerraUSD and luna tokens.
The latest indictment alleges Kwon, 33, made numerous false disclosures and lied to investors, regulators and via social media about a range of crypto products and platforms connected to Terraform Labs. The charge covers alleged conduct from 2022 to April 2024 and references wire and crypto transfers of more than $10,000 in “criminally derived property”.
“Kwon’s constructed financial world was built on lies and manipulative and deceptive techniques used to mislead investors, users, business partners and government regulators regarding Terraform’s business,” the indictment said.
“Behind the scenes, core Terraform products did not work as Kwon advertised, and were manipulated to create the illusion of a functioning and decentralised financial system in order to lure investors,” it added.
The collapse of the TerraUSD coin unleashed an unprecedented crash in crypto markets and sparked a South Korean investigation into Kwon. He was previously charged with fraud and breaches of capital markets law in his home country, prompting an international manhunt after authorities were unable to locate him.
Kwon was ultimately arrested in Montenegro in 2023, after he was discovered trying to travel to the United Arab Emirates, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US, while using a forged Costa Rican passport. US criminal charges against him were unsealed hours later.
Montenegro extradited Kwon to US officials and FBI agents on Tuesday in an airport in Podgorica, the nation’s capital. South Korea also had requested his extradition.
Kwon has previously denied wrongdoing and entered a plea of not guilty during a brief court hearing on Thursday. Attorneys for Kwon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum penalty of 130 years in prison. His next court appearance is set for January 8.
US attorney-general Merrick Garland on Thursday said: “Do Kwon will now be held accountable in an American courtroom for, as alleged in court documents, his elaborate schemes involving Terraform’s cryptocurrencies, which resulted in over $40bn in investor losses.”
TerraUSD was one of the largest stablecoins — crypto tokens pegged to real assets; in this case, the US dollar — at the time of its collapse.
The collapse of TerraUSD and an affiliated digital coin, luna, virtually overnight marked the start of a brutal year for cryptocurrencies, culminating with the downfall of FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried in late 2022. Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and is appealing against a 25-year prison sentence he received in March 2024 for stealing $8bn from crypto customers.
Kwon and Terraform Labs in April were found responsible for fraud in a civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the regulator in June secured a $4.5bn penalty to be paid by the company and Kwon via a settlement. TerraForm Labs filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.
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