On Friday, Montenegrin police formally charged Do Kwon, the cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind two digital currencies that lost an estimated $40 billion (almost 3.29500 crore rupees) or more in the year last, for falsifying official documents after arresting him at Podgorica airport.

Do Kwon, a South Korean national, and a second suspect were arrested on Thursday as they attempted to board a flight to Dubai at Podgorica airport.

Police said in a statement that they found fake Costa Rican passports and a separate set of Belgian passports in their luggage during the encounter.

The two suspects were also charged in a court in Podgorica with falsifying official documents, he added.

“Pending the completion of the (judicial) procedure, they will be brought before an investigating judge…for further action pursuant to an international (arrest) warrant,” he said. declared.

He also said that an international arrest warrant had been issued for the two “to ensure their presence…in front of the Seoul Southern District Court, suspected of having committed several criminal acts in the field of economics. “.

Several hours after Kwon’s arrest in Podgorica, the US District Court in Manhattan released an eight-count indictment against him.

Attorneys for Kwon in the United States did not immediately respond to after-hours requests for comment.

Thursday’s indictment charges Kwon, who co-founded Terraform Labs and developed the TerraUSD and Luna currencies, with two counts each of securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and conspiracy.

Both currencies crashed last May, with the price of TerraUSD falling to less than a penny.

The criminal case follows related civil charges at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Kwon and Terraform last month.

Kwon had been a fugitive for several months. South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for him last September.

South Korean police said on Friday that the identity of the suspect arrested in Montenegro had been confirmed as Kwon after his fingerprints matched information held by the country’s National Police Agency (KNPA).

© Thomson Reuters 2023