Do Kwon Arrested in Montenegro, Ending a Six-Month Run With the Law Enforcers

The most wanted cryptocurrency fugitive behind Terra LUNA and UST, which collapsed in May last year, Do Hyeong Kwon, has been arrested in Montenegro.

Filip Adzic, the minister in charge of the internal affairs in the government of Montenegro, said Thursday that the Montenegrin police had arrested a South Korean citizen suspected of being the most wanted fugitive. Adzic described the suspect as the co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs, based in Singapore.

‘‘The former ‘cryptocurrency king’, behind losses of more than 40 billion dollars, was detained at the Podgorica airport with falsified documents, and he is wanted by South Korea, the USA, and Singapore. We are waiting for official confirmation of his identity,’’ wrote Adzic.

According to a local news outlet, the South Korean law enforcers confirmed that the arrested individual was indeed Do Kwon. ‘‘We checked the age, nationality, and name with the identification card the person had and confirmed that he was the same person as CEO Kwon with photo data.’’ Kwon was earlier spotted in Serbia, the Balkan country neighboring Montenegro, after he fled the United Arab Emirates.
Kwon’s executive aide arrested

There are also emerging reports that Kwon’s executive aide, Han Mo, was also arrested in Podgorica. South Korea said it was still awaiting fingerprints to confirm the arrest, including the confiscated falsified documents.

Considering the many jurisdictions involved in the search, it remains to be seen where Kwon could be extradited to face trial. Although he was born in South Korea, he has spent most of his time in the US and Singapore, with the latter having been the official headquarters of Terraform Labs.

Immediately following the collapse of Terra Luna, the South Korean agencies raided TFL offices in Seoul in an investigation that accused the blockchain entrepreneur of, among other things, engaging in illegal activities and wash trading. Interpol later issued a red notice demanding Kwon’s arrest.

In addition, last month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint against Terraform Labs and Kwon for allegedly defrauding investors in cryptocurrency schemes, costing investors upwards of $40 billion in losses, including those in the US. The suit also dismissed the UST stablecoin, saying that the ‘purported peg’ to the USD never existed.