Apparently the founder of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, testified in a Montenegrin court that he did not know that the passport he was traveling with was false and blamed a Chinese agency.
According to a report of June 17 from the South Korean news outlet Segye Ilbo, Kwon testified before the Basic Court of Montenegro that he received his allegedly forged passports and travel documentation, including a Costa Rican passport, through third-party “agencies.”.
“I received my Costa Rican passport after filling out the required documents by an agency in Singapore that a friend recommended to me. I received my Belgian passport through another agency.”
According to Kwon, since he had traveled with his Costa Rican passport “for years”, he had no reason to doubt its authenticity..
The prosecution pressed Kwon for more details about the agency he used for his passports, but Kwon said he couldn’t “remember exactly.”adding that he only knew that the name of the agency was “in Chinese”.
Kwon was questioned along with his colleague and former CFO of Terraform Labs Han Chong-joon..
In addition to denying falsification of travel documents, Kwon denied allegations that he made financial donations to former Montenegrin Finance Minister Milojko Spajić, the current leader of the Europe Now party..
According to a report June 17 from a regional division of Radio Free Europe, Kwon allegedly contacted Spajić in a letter he sent to several Montenegrin officials in the days leading up to the country’s latest round of elections..
“This is categorically denied and is not true,” Kwon’s lawyers said..
Spajić denied having ties to Kwon, but his rumored financial connections received a lot of coverage in various media in Montenegro.
Korean media reports that for years, Do Kwon had secretly been sponsoring a prominent Montenegrin politician using illegal funds. Two days ago, a Montenegro high court approved Do Kwon’s bail request again, allowing for his release from prison.
—FatMan (@FatManTerra) June 9, 2023
Korean media reported that Do Kwon had secretly sponsored a prominent Montenegrin politician with illegal funds for years. Two days ago, a Montenegrin high court again approved Do Kwon’s request for bail, allowing him to be released from prison.
After the hearing, Judge Ivana Becić announced that she will deliver a verdict on the forgery charges. on June 19 local time. Kwon will remain in pre-trial detention for up to six months while the local court studies the South Korean extradition request..
Kwon and Chong-Joon were detained by local authorities on March 23 after being charged with forging the passports they used in an attempt to leave Montenegro on a private flight bound for Dubai..
Lawyers for both initially received approval for the proposed 400,000-euro ($436,000) bail, but that decision was overturned on appeal on May 24. On June 5, the appeal was dismissed and Kwon and Chong-joon were granted bail.. Both will be closely monitored by local police, and if either of them leaves their residence or breaks approved conditions, their bond will be withdrawn.
Terraform Labs’ Terra ecosystem collapsed in May 2022, causing estimated losses of up to $40 billion.
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