The High Court of Montenegro rejects Do Kwon ‘s appeal, affirming his four-month prison term for document falsification.
Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, had his appeal dismissed by the High Court of Montenegro, which upheld his four-month prison term for document falsification. Kwon’s situation becomes more dire as a result of this choice because he may be extradited once his term is served.
Kwon’s petition to have the prison term revoked was earlier defeated by a ruling made by the court. A lower court gave the jail sentence in June. Kwon was accused of forging paperwork alongside Han Chang-Joon, another executive at Terraform Labs.
This case surfaced about a year following Terraform Labs’ demise. After being taken into jail in March, both people have stayed in custody. Kwon may be turned over to US or South Korean authorities after his tenure in the Balkan country ends, according to Coindesk.
The four-month prison sentence was ruled by the Basic Court of Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, to be a “adequate” punishment for the offense. The court also emphasized how important it was that the passports and identity cards be seized as a security measure to deter future crimes by the criminals.
Do Kwon is Dealing With a Growing Legal Battle
A crucial development in their legal dispute was the four-month prison sentence handed down by Montenegro’s Basic Court to Kwon and Han Chong-Joon, the former chief financial officer of Terraform Lab.
The two were caught in March in Montenegro while trying to take a private plane to Dubai. The court seized the executives’ forged identity cards and counterfeit passports from Belgium and Costa Rica.
Originally given bail of €400,000 apiece, this reprieve was then revoked when an appeal by the prosecutor led an upper court to rule that the executives’ property assessment was lacking. It is said that the executives of Terraform Labs’ time in custody would be taken into account while determining their penalties.
Charges for Crime and the Repercussions of Terra’s Collapse
Federal prosecutors in New York filed criminal accusations against Kwon in March, citing eight offenses connected to his doomed stablecoin venture. These included conspiracy to defraud and manipulate markets, securities fraud, wire fraud, and commodities fraud.
Following Terra’s disastrous collapse, which destroyed a whopping $40 billion from the cryptocurrency ecosystem, Kwon’s arrest was a turning point. Under Kwon’s direction, Terraform Labs launched an algorithmic stablecoin linked to the US dollar before going bankrupt in May of the previous year.
