Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

South Korea says crypto fugitive Do Kwon is hiding in Serbia

Do Kwon, here in Seoul, South Korea, on April 14, is hiding in Serbia, South Korean prosecutors say. (Woohae Cho/Bloomberg/Getty Images) Do Kwon, here in Seoul, South Korea, on April 14, is hiding in Serbia, South Korean prosecutors say. (Woohae Cho/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Share

Do Kwon, a disgraced tycoon behind the collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna coins that in May, is hiding in Serbia, according to South Korean prosecutors who are seeking to take him into custody.

Kwon, a South Korean national, had made his way from Singapore, where he was living while running the blockchain platform Terraform Labs, to Dubai and finally to Serbia, a spokesperson for the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office told CNN on Tuesday.

The office became aware that Kwon was in Serbia in November and was tracking him, according to the spokesperson, adding that it was seeking assistance from the Serbian government to arrest and extradite him.

In September, a South Korean court issued an for him, after he was accused of fraud by investors in the wake of the collapse of his company.

Kwon has been charged with fraud and breaches of South Korea's capital markets law. He that he didn't believe the charges were legitimate, adding that they were "politically motivated."

The crypto developer has repeatedly that he was not "on the run," but refused to disclose his whereabouts due to worries about his personal security.

Terraform Labs was behind the TerraUSD "stablecoin," which in theory was meant to retain a US$1 price point, and its sister coin Luna. Both coins lost much of their value in a matter of days in May, wiping tens of billions of dollars in value from the crypto market and setting off across the speculative sector.

The collapse of the two linked coins kick started the so-called "crypto winter," from which the industry was struggling to recover even as it experienced another huge blow from the in November. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday after US prosecutors filed criminal charges against him.

— Jon Sarlin contributed to this report.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

An Edmonton man says he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was injured by members of the Edmonton Police Service last year.

BREAKING

BREAKING

The brother of a 27-year-old man who was fatally shot in Scarborough over the weekend has been arrested and charged in connection with his death, say police.

Local Spotlight

Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

Stay Connected