Warrant issued for the arrest of Terra's Do Kwon and 5 others

The Seoul Southern District Court has issued arrest warrants for Do Kwon, co-founder of Singapore-incorporated Terraform Labs, and five others, according to a report from Yonhap.

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The Seoul Southern District Court has issued arrest warrants for Do Kwon, co-founder of Singapore-incorporated Terraform Labs, and five others, according to a report from Yonhap.

They are charged with violating capital markets laws in relation to the collapse of Luna and TerraUSD, cryptocurrencies created by Kwon and Daniel Shin.

Of the other five, only Nicholas Platias, who was head of research at Terraform Labs until August 2020, was named in press reports.

As the individuals are all currently outside of Korea, the prosecutors are expected to seek an Interpol "red notice", which requests law enforcement worldwide to locate and arrest a person currently outside the country where a warrant for arrest has been issued.

Kwon insisted that he had heard nothing from the authorities during an interview in August.

Luna was once No.8 globally in terms of market capitalization, peaking at almost $120 in April. It collapsed to trade at less than a cent.

In May, investors filed a class action lawsuit against Terraform Labs, while prosecutors raided seven crypto exchanges and other locations in connection with the Terraform Labs investigation in July.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]