KEY POINTS
- Kwon’s next hearing in Montenegro is scheduled for June 16
- Kwon’s lawyer proposed the two Terraform Labs executives be let out at a €400,000 ($437,000) bail each
- He was captured by the authorities at the Podgorica airport, while attempting to fly to Dubai
Disgraced crypto executive Do Kwon, who founded and led the blockchain firm Terraform Labs (TFL), on Thursday pleaded not guilty in a Montenegrin court to charges of faking travel documents.
The charges filed by Montenegro prosecutors came days after South Korean authorities froze his assets worth $176 million.
The curtains seemed to be falling on the career of Kwon in the cryptocurrency industry after walls started to close in on him over the series of events that took place following his capture last March.
Kwon, who has long been claiming his innocence in the spectacular crash of the so-called algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and the token LUNA that wiped out billions of dollars in investment, had fallen into the hands of authorities after months of being a fugitive, traveling from one country to another, allegedly using a different name.
His hearing regarding the forging of travel documents took place a month after the cryptocurrency founder and his former colleague and ex-Terra CFO Chang-joon Han, who also pleaded not guilty, were captured by authorities at the Podgorica airport, while attempting to fly to Dubai.
Kwon’s lawyer Branko Andjelic also requested that both executives be let out on bail at €400,000 ($437,000) each and proposed the crypto executives be placed under house arrest in his girlfriend’s apartment and just report regularly to authorities, Bloomberg said.
“I will not hide, I agree to security measures, I will show up when requested,” Kwon, wearing a dark jacket, told the court in English.
The crypto kingpin also noted that he could have offered more details about his assets and could have given his account numbers if the media was not present in the courtroom. He also claimed most of his assets were in “volatile and liquid” form.
Kwon’s next hearing is scheduled for June 16.
This latest information about the TFL CEO came on the heels of reports in South Korea claiming the Seoul Southern District Court apparently honored the prosecutor’s request to freeze approximately $176 million worth of Kwon’s assets.
Authorities also restricted Kwon from accessing his house in Southern Seoul, his studio flat in Nonhyun-don, an undisclosed amount of money deposits at Woori Bank, securities at brokerage firm Mirae Asset and luxurious vehicles, among many others.
It is worth noting the disgraced crypto executive has other assets the Seoul Southern District Court did not freeze.
