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South Korean Watchdogs Request Interpol’s Red Notice against Do Kwon

The controversy surrounding Do Kwon’s whereabouts continues to grow, given that South Korean prosecutors asked Interpol to issue a red notice against the Terraform Labs’ founder.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office had aired its tribulations about Kwon’s noncooperative nature and that he did not intend to show up for questioning.

“Prosecutors have made a request to Interpol for their assistance to locate Kwon, whose whereabouts remain unknown and to have him handed over to Korea,” the Prosecutors office said, adding that “Currently, we are in the process to locate the whereabouts of suspect Do Kwon and apprehend him,” a prosecution official added.

Over the weekend, Do Kwon insisted that he was not on the run and tweeted:

“I am not ‘on the run’ or anything similar – (from) any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation, and we don’t have anything to hide.”

Following the collapse of Terraform Labs’ native tokens UST and Luna in May, the crash triggered a $60 billion crypto meltdown. As a result, South Korean authorities have been pursuing him to get to the bottom line of the matter.

Recently, Seoul Court issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon and five others for violating the nation’s capital markets law, Blockchain.News reported.

Furthermore, various lawsuits against Kwon have emerged from investors in different countries.

A red notice issued by Interpol requires law enforcers globally to restrict persons from undertaking cross-border travels and being issued with visas. Moreover, it guarantees the provisional arrest of an individual pending surrender or extradition.

Kwon had initially travelled from South Korea to Singapore, given that Terraform Labs had a base at the latter. Nevertheless, his whereabouts remain scanty because the Singapore Police force hinted that Kwon was not in the nation.

LUNA sent shockwaves to the crypto market after collapsing to near-zero overnight despite it being among the top ten cryptocurrencies in May.

Things started going south when the algorithmic UST stablecoin on the Terra network experienced a free fall to the extent that leading crypto exchange Binance temporarily halted its withdrawals together with that of LUNA.

Interpol Issues Red Notice for Terra's Kwon

Terraform Labs co-founder has been issued with a red notice from Interpol, prosecutors in South Korea claim, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Following the red notice, law enforcement worldwide has the authority to locate and arrest Do Kwon. Interpol coordinates policing efforts between countries.

Kwon is facing a charge related to the US$60 billion wipeout of cryptocurrencies he created.

The news came after a South Korean court issued a warrant for Kwon’s arrest on Sept 14, and days later, after he claimed he was not on the run, South Korean prosecutors asked Interpol to issue a red notice against him.

The red notice has exposed hugely risky practices in the digital assets industry.

Kwon moved to Singapore from South Korea earlier this and until recently, his whereabouts showed that he was still in the city-state. However, his location has become unknown after the local police on Sept 17 said that he was no longer in the city-state.

Kwon and five other Terraform Labs executives face allegations that they breached capital markets laws in South Korea. They have been issued an arrest warrant on Sept 13 from the court in Seoul for allegedly violating the nation’s capital markets law.

The fall of the Terra Platform in May led to the historic collapse of the TerraUSD (UST) stablecoins, which has affected the faith of many people in the digital-asset sector. Currently, the crypto sector still remains rattled by the downfall of the stablecoin, and recovery is still under process.

The ecosystem collapsed when TerraUSD – also known as UST – crumbled from its dollar peg and brought down the ecosystem he had built, after which the prices of both tokens tumbled to near zero, a shadow of the combined $60 billion they once controlled.

Furthermore, the collapse of Terraform Labs’ associated tokens – LUNA and the UST stablecoin – effectively ushered in the first wave of the crypto winter.

Terra's Do Kwon Says He is Cooperating With Prosecutors in New Interview

In what appears to be the longest interview session Do Kwon has had since the collapse of Terraform Labs and its associated tokens LUNA and UST, founder, Do Kwon, has granted over an hour of an interview to crypto Journalist and host of the Unchained Podcast Laura Shin.

In the interview, Kwon said he is currently cooperating with South Korean regulators but has not felt the need to turn himself in as he has not seen an arrest warrant from the prosecutors yet.

“We haven’t seen a copy of the arrest warrant so every piece of data we are consuming is from the media,” Kwon said, affirming that all of the document requests he has been served has been treated.

One of the most important talking points with Shin was the remorse he felt for the whole collapse of the protocol. He emphatically said he was “sorry” about how everything went down and said he believes every investor in the LUNA and UST believed his assertions that the algorithmic stablecoin can be kept stable.

Kwon said he believes the accusations of fraud and scams are unwarranted and that every investor deserves to know what really transpired. He said he understands that it is very difficult to leave with immense losses and that is part of what breaks him the most.

The embattled developer said besides the collapse of the LUNA and UST tokens and the ecosystem that was built around the coins, he has contributed positively to the growth of the crypto ecosystem in the five years he has been a leader in the space.

Despite the more than an hour interview, Kwon did not disclose his location, and besides South Korean prosecutors that are on the hunt for him, Interpol has also issued a Red Notice for him, making him one of the most wanted humans alive.

INTERPOL Creates a Global Police Force in the Metaverse to Combat Digital Crimes

The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) which has its headquarters in Lyon, France has established a police metaverse unit that is expected to function worldwide.

The news was announced in a press statement made at the 90th INTERPOL General Assembly in New Delhi, India.

The metaverse is expected to run via the INTERPOL Secure Clouds so as to guarantee its objectivity.

The INTERPOL platform will enable registered persons to interact with other officers via their avatars persona, explore a virtual replica of the INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France, without regard to the user’s physical location, and even enroll in advanced training programs in forensic analysis and other policing skills when it fully begins its operations.

Law enforcement agencies can benefit from the metaverse in a variety of ways, including remote work, networking, gathering and preserving evidence from crime scenes, and providing training.

As the Metaverse’s user population increases and technology improves, there will undoubtedly be more crimes that might be committed, including crimes against children, data theft, money laundering, financial fraud, phishing, and harassment. These crimes could pose a challenge to law enforcement agents because not all crimes committed physically are categorized as fraudulent when committed in the digital space.

According to Madan Oberoi, Executive Director of Technology and Innovation at INTERPOL,

“By recognizing these dangers early on, we can collaborate with stakeholders to develop the required regulatory frameworks and shut off potential criminal markets before they are completely formed.”

The Metaverse Experience

The Metaverse has become more than just a gaming platform. More individuals and corporations are already using the metaverse for everyday activities such as working, studying, shopping and socializing.

Usain Bolt, an 11-time world champion and eight-time Olympic gold winner, has partnered with Step App to elevate fitness and exercise through the metaverse and Web3. Users of the Step App can earn rewards when they participate in exercise activities such as jogging and running with friends and strangers.

The United States’ popular retail store, Walmart also showed its interest to launch its own metaverse that may enhance customers’ shopping experience.

Image source: Interpol

A British National Charged With Aiding North Korea in Violating US sanctions

A citizen of the United Kingdom who was wanted by the Department of Justice in the United States was apprehended by the Interpol office in Moscow (DoJ). The guy is suspected of participating in a plot to circumvent the restrictions imposed by the United States on North Korea.

Christopher Emms was taken into custody on February 21 in Moscow on the basis of a “red alert” issued by Interpol, as reported by the local media. The British national, who was 31 years old, was taken into custody at the hostel where he was sleeping.

In April 2022, it is believed that Emms, together with a citizen of Spain named Alejandro Cao De Benos, supplied North Korea with instructions on how it might utilize blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to escape sanctions and wash dirty money. The 2019 Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference was both planned and coordinated by the two individuals.

Virgil Griffith, a person who once worked on the Ethereum project, is the third person involved in the plot. In November of 2019, he was taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and after entering a guilty plea, he was given a sentence of 63 months in jail. If found guilty on one count of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Emms faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

Previously, Radha Stirling, the founder of Due Process International, which is a nongovernmental organization that helps defend human rights in the face of international enforcement agencies, stated that there was no strong evidence against Emms: “Precisely because he did nothing wrong; he provided no information to North Korea that doesn’t already appear on the first page of Google.”

After an eight-month travel restriction, Emms was finally free to leave Saudi Arabia in September 2022, after Saudi Arabia had rejected the American extradition request on the grounds that it had a legal foundation. He didn’t waste any time getting out of the country and went straight to Russia. However, despite the fact that the nation was the focus of the Department of Justice’s attempts to implement financial sanctions in the cryptocurrency industry, the local authorities made the decision to assist their American colleagues.

South Korea's Police Agency Requests INTERPOL's Assistance for Extradition of Terra's Do Kwon

South Korea’s National Police Agency has officially requested the International Criminal Police Organization’s (INTERPOL) assistance to extradite Do Kwon, the CEO of Terraform Labs, back to his home country. This development comes in the wake of a Montenegrin court’s decision to overturn a prior ruling for Kwon’s extradition to the United States, favoring a potential return to South Korea due to earlier extradition requests.

Montenegrin Court’s Decision and South Korea’s Response

On March 7th, 2024, the Montenegrin Appeals Court sent back the case to the primary court, reversing a prior decision that would have seen Kwon extradited to the United States. The reversal was based on the timeline of extradition requests, where South Korea’s request predated that of the U.S. by mere days.

Following this development, South Korea’s law enforcement has been proactive in reinforcing its position. The National Police Agency, through the Korean INTERPOL National Central Bureau, has sent a message to INTERPOL’s General Secretariat, urging the organization to ensure that Kwon is extradited to South Korea.

Terra Luna Crisis

Do Kwon is a central figure in the collapse of the Terra-Luna cryptocurrency, which saw billions of dollars in market value wiped out overnight. The incident had a catastrophic impact on global investors, with estimates suggesting losses exceeding 50 trillion won (over 40 billion USD), including the significant damage inflicted upon approximately 200,000 domestic investors.

Kwon’s legal troubles began when he fled to Singapore in April 2022, shortly before the cryptocurrency’s value plummeted. He was subsequently apprehended in Montenegro in March 2023 on charges of using a forged passport. Since then, Kwon has been detained in Montenegro, with his legal status being a subject of international contention.

The International Extradition Process and Its Complexities

Extradition is a complex process, often influenced by international relations, the severity of alleged crimes, and the legal frameworks of the countries involved. In Kwon’s case, the process is further complicated by the competing requests from both South Korea and the United States.

As South Korea steps up its efforts to bring Kwon to justice, the international community is closely monitoring the situation. The case not only serves as a significant legal precedent for international crimes involving cryptocurrencies but also highlights the need for global cooperation in regulating and overseeing the digital asset industry.

Looking Ahead

The South Korean government, along with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Police Agency, continues to coordinate efforts to ensure Kwon’s extradition. The final decision now rests in the hands of the Montenegrin judiciary and INTERPOL’s subsequent actions based on the appeals from South Korea.

This case underscores the growing need for international legal frameworks that can effectively address the borderless nature of cryptocurrency-related crimes. As the legal saga unfolds, it also serves as a cautionary tale for the crypto industry at large, emphasizing accountability and the potential reach of law enforcement across national boundaries.

Conclusion

The request for INTERPOL’s assistance by the South Korean Police Agency marks a significant step in the ongoing legal proceedings against Do Kwon. It reflects the country’s determination to hold individuals accountable for their actions in the cryptocurrency space, setting a precedent for future cases of a similar nature.

The legal outcome of this case could have far-reaching implications for the governance and regulation of the cryptocurrency industry, as nations grapple with the challenges of pursuing justice across jurisdictions in an increasingly digital and decentralized financial landscape.