Prosecutors Hunt for ‘Fugitive’ Do Kwon & Say He Left South Korea ‘in April’
South Korean prosecutors have labeled the Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon a “fugitive” – and have claimed that he fled South Korea in April – several days before the crash of Terra ecosystem coins like TerraUSD (UST).
On Saturday, Kwon took to Twitter to deny he was attempting to evade prosecutors from his home country – despite the fact that he has been served with an arrest warrant. Prosecutors have even asked the Foreign Ministry to void Kwon’s passport, along with the travel documents of four other Terraform executives. But Kwon appears to have made light of claims he is now “on the run.”
Tbh havent gone running in a while, need to cut some calories https://t.co/SP9VtS5ob2
— Do Kwon 🌕 (@stablekwon) September 17, 2022
South Korean prosecutors are refusing to look on the light side, however – and, per Dong A Ilbo, told journalists at a press conference on September 18:
“Kwon left for Singapore around the end of April and dissolved the domestic company he had been using to issue coins. It is clear that he fled, and left the country for Singapore. [We] him with issued an arrest warrant because there is a fear that he will not respond to requests to attend questioning.”
The prosecution added that it feared that Kwon would “not cooperate with the investigative process at all” during “search and seizure processes.”
Officers added that they were currently “in the process of securing Kwon’s whereabouts.” They are also believed to have contacted Interpol with a request for cooperation.
Over the weekend, Singaporean police were quoted as stating that Kwon had already left the country.
The evidence against Kwon and Terraform already appears to be mounting up. Prosecutors also claimed that Kwon’s immediate family had followed the CEO to Singapore a month after he traveled to the same destination.
They also believe that a number of fellow Terraform executives “also fled South Korea” prior to or just after the tokens crashed.
Quoting Singaporean sources, Chosun Ilbo reported that Kwon’s days of residence in Singapore may have been numbered anyway – he currently holds an EntrePass pass that, per the nation’s labor ministry, “allows eligible foreign entrepreneurs to start and operate a business in Singapore that is venture-backed or possesses innovative technologies.”
But Kwon’s own EntrePass is reportedly due to expire on December 7 – and his application to extend the validity of the document has already been rejected. Chosun added that the labor ministry has previously canceled EntrePasses for violations of Singapore’s coronavirus prevention protocols.
