Kwon Do-hyeong, also referred to as Do Kwon, a disgraced former crypto leader who is wanted in the US and South Korea on suspicion of fraud and other offences, has been given a four-month prison sentence in Montenegro.
Do Kwon and Han Chang-Joon, two South Korean citizens who were found guilty of forging documents, were given four months in prison by a court in the southern European nation on Monday, according to a spokesperson for the Basic Court in Podgorica. Han formerly served as Terraform Labs’ chief financial officer. Terraform Labs is a blockchain platform that Kwon established, according to Reuters.
Attempting to board a flight from Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, to Dubai, the two men were detained in late March.
Two passports from Costa Rica, two from Belgium, and two identity cards belonged to the former crypto executives, which the authorities discovered and seized.
The court stated that their sentences take into account the 85 days they were detained.
The TerraUSD stablecoin and Luna, its sister coin, were developed by Terraform Labs. In May 2022, both coins had rapid value declines that caused the crypto market to lose around $40 billion and the entire industry to experience a panic.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission accused Kwon and his business of defrauding investors in February, alleging that he had misled them about TerraUSD’s stability.
In South Korea, Kwon has also been accused of fraud and of violating the country’s capital markets law. In October, he stated that he didn’t think the accusations were true and that they were politically motivated.
In December, Seoul prosecutors told that they thought Serbia was where the crypto leader was hiding out. Kwon has often asserted on Twitter that he is not “on the run,” but he has declined to say where he is because of concerns for his personal safety.
The sentence would be drafted and given to Kwon and Han within the next 30 days, the Podgorica court announced on Monday. Within eight days of receiving the letter, the men will have the chance to argue against the court’s ruling.
