South Korea asks Interpol to issue a red notice for 'Terra' crypto founder, Do Kwon

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South Korean prosecutors rejected Do Kwon's claims that he was not on the run and asked the country's foreign ministry to confiscate his passport. They also launched proceedings to have Interpol issue a red warrant for Kwon, the wanted founder of the failed Terra Luna.

In a Twitter post, Do Kwon claimed he was not on the run, but was cooperating with authorities. "I am not “on the run” or anything similar - for any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we don’t have anything to hide" Do Kwon wrote.

I am not “on the run” or anything similar - for any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we don’t have anything to hide — Do Kwon 🌕 (@stablekwon) September 17, 2022

He's obviously on the run

“We have begun the procedure to place him on the Interpol red notice list and revoke his passport… We are doing our best to locate and arrest him… He is clearly on the run as his company’s key finance people also left for the same country [Singapore] during that time,” the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office said on Monday.

On Saturday, Singapore police said Kwon was no longer in the country, but the law enforcement agency would cooperate with South Korean authorities on the matter. An arrest warrant for Kwon was issued by a Korean court last week.

Allegedly, Kwon told the prosecutors through his lawyers that he did not want to answer their call immediately. In addition to the arrest warrant against Do Kwon, warrants have been issued for 5 other employees of Terraform Labs, who are behind the Terra blockchain and its failed cryptocurrencies, UST and Luna.

Following the collapse of the $40 billion Terra Luna ecosystem, a total of 81 South Korean investors filed complaints against the company and its officials, accusing them of fraud. A South Korean court consolidated those complaints into two cases.

The court said Kwon and others had clearly violated the country's capital market laws and must participate in investigations, the report said. Prosecutors alleged that Kwon dissolved the South Korean unit of Terraform Labs in April and moved to Singapore.

In May, members of Kwon's family and key people from the company also fled to Singapore. Since the news of Kwon's arrest warrant became public on September 14, LUNA has fallen more than 40% from $4.36 on September 14 to $2.80 at the time of writing.

Since Singapore does not have an extradition treaty with South Korea, it is not legally bound to return wanted individuals. The question remains what South Korean prosecutors will do if the fugitive Terra executives responsible for the project's failure do not return voluntarily.

The Terra Luna project failed in May of this year and attempts to revive the project continue in the form of the Terra Classic cryptocurrency.