Terraform’s Do Kwon pleads not guilty to passport forgery

Terraform Labs chief executive officer Kwon Do-hyeong and chief financial officer Han Chang-joon denied charges of attempting to travel with fake travel documents during a court hearing Thursday in Montenegro. Their attorneys requested bail, which the court will decide at a later date, according to a statement by the Basic Court of Podgorica.

See related article: From billionaire to Montenegro jail: The rapid rise and fall of Terra chief Do Kwon

• Attorneys for Kwon and Han proposed that they be given bail at 400,000 euros (US$437,000) each, to which the local court said it will decide “within the legal term.” 
• The next hearing for the two South Korean nationals is expected to take place on June 16.
• Kwon was arrested at Podgorica airport of Montenegro on March 23 along with Han, and the Montenegrin court announced the indictment of the two on April 21. 
• Terraform’s algorithmic stablecoin and cryptocurrency project Terra-Luna crashed in May 2022, blowing away over US$40 billion in market capitalization. Kwon is wanted in the U.S. and South Korea where prosecutors accuse him of fraud, securities law violations and several other charges related to the collapse. 
• Dan Sung-han, the director of Seoul Southern District’s joint financial crimes team, told The Wall Street Journal last week that Kwon may face over 40 years in prison if he is extradited to South Korea and convicted on the charges. That would be the longest sentence ever given for a financial crime in the country, he said.
• Kwon has repeatedly denied all the allegations against him, maintaining that mistakes were made in the Terra-Luna crypto project managed by his Terraform Labs, but there was no intent to deceive investors. Kwon also claimed that charges against him in South Korea are politically motivated.
• Meanwhile, South Korean prosecutors indicted Terraform Labs co-founder Shin Hyun-seung, or Daniel Shin, and nine other Terraform associates on April 25 for taking part in the alleged financial fraud surrounding the collapsed Terra-Luna crypto project. 
• A Seoul court set a trial for Shin on May 26.

See related article: Prosecutor says Terra-Luna fugitive Do Kwon should face trial in South Korea: WSJ