According to recent reports, Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, has denied allegations of forging travel documentation and refuted any financial ties to Milojko Spajić, the leader of the Europe Now party. During a court hearing in Montenegro, Kwon claimed that he was unaware of the alleged forgery of his passport and attributed the blame to a Chinese agency. He stated that he obtained his Costa Rican passport through a Singaporean agency recommended by a friend, while his Belgian passport was obtained through another agency. Kwon asserted that he had been using his Costa Rican passport for several years and had no reason to doubt its authenticity.
When pressed for details about the agency he used for his passports, Kwon stated that he could not recall the exact name and only remembered that it was in Chinese. Alongside Kwon, his former Terraform Labs Chief Financial Officer, Han Chong-joon, was also questioned during the hearing.
Additionally, Kwon denied allegations of making financial donations to Spajić, the former finance minister of Montenegro. This denial was supported by Kwon’s lawyers, who firmly stated that the accusations were untrue. Despite these denials, reports of rumored financial connections between Kwon and Spajić have been extensively covered by various media outlets in Montenegro.
Following the hearing, Judge Ivana Becić announced that a verdict on the forgery charges would be issued on June 19, local time. Meanwhile, Kwon will remain in extradition custody for a maximum of six months, as the local court considers South Korea’s extradition request. Kwon and Chong-joon were initially arrested on March 23 after being accused of falsifying passports in an attempt to leave Montenegro on a private flight to Dubai.
Initially, the pair’s lawyers obtained approval for a proposed bail of 400,000 euros ($436,000). However, this decision was later overturned on appeal on May 24. On June 5, the appeal was dismissed, and bail was granted for Kwon and Chong-joon, subject to strict monitoring by local police. Any violation of the approved conditions or leaving their residence would result in the forfeiture of their bail.
It is worth noting that Terraform Labs’ Terra ecosystem experienced a significant collapse in May 2022, resulting in estimated losses of up to $40 billion.
