South Korean prosecutors have identified 414.5 billion won ($314.2 million) in illicit assets associated with Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon and his associates.
Out of the identified illegal assets, prosecutors have linked about 91.4 billion won ($69 million) of the specified amount directly to Kwon.
Kwon allegedly converted most of the illicit funds into Bitcoin using foreign crypto exchanges. This move made the funds unrecoverable by South Korean authorities, as they were not invested in physical assets.
Terraform Labs was a booming crypto ecosystem until its $40 billion collapse in May 2022. It instantly turned out to be a clear case of fraud with Kwon at the epicenter.
On-chain data revealed that Terraform Labs sold more than $450 million worth of UST on the open market. This action occurred three weeks before the depeg of the TerraUSD stablecoin, which ultimately led to its collapse
In a recent SEC interview, a former Terraform Labs executive accused Kwon of allegedly siphoning nearly $100 million worth of Bitcoin from Terra post-collapse. This includes siphoning $80 million a month before the ecosystem’s collapse.
SK authorities have requested Binance to halt any withdrawal request associated with Kwon. The exchange has confirmed that it is cooperating with the prosecutors.
South Korean authorities are actively tracing properties associated with Terraform Labs executives. They want to recover some illicit funds from the Terra collapse, but Kwon’s assets remain out of reach. Kwon evaded arrest for nearly a year despite an arrest warrant from South Korean authorities. Interpol issued a red notice against his name before they caught him on March 23 in Montenegro.
