Do Kwon loses bid to overturn guilty verdict on fake passport charge

Onetime crypto fugitive Do Kwon used false passport while on the run from Interpol.
Terraform Labs founder laid low in $2m flat in Serbia for months.
Kwon to remain in prison pending extradition proceedings to the US or South Korea.

Do Kwon’s slim hopes of reversing his conviction of using a false passport in Montenegro earlier this year were dashed on Thursday when a court denied his appeal, according to a judicial statement.

The Higher Court Of Podgorica in the Balkan nation’s capital affirmed a guilty verdict issued by a lower court in June, and its decision is final.

Fake passports

Kwon, 31, the founder of Terraform Labs, and his business associate Han Chang-Joon used fake Costa Rican passports to try and leave Montenegro on a private jet in March.

Kwon later testified that he thought the passports were legitimate.

Wanted by South Korean authorities in connection with the $60 billion collapse of Terra in May 2022, Kwon had been on the run for months prior to his arrest.

Kwon hid out in a luxury flat in neighbouring Serbia, and formed a company under his own name even though he was the target of an Interpol red notice, DL News discovered.

Now he is incarcerated in a prison in Montenegro awaiting the outcome of extradition proceedings brought by South Korean officials, as well as the US Justice Department.

In March, a US grand jury indicted Kwon on eight counts of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly ripping off investors in the Terra blockchain network’s various tokens, including LUNA, and loan offerings.

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The US Securities and Exchange Commission also sued Kwon and Terraform Labs on similar allegations.

Do Kwon has denied the allegations from South Korean and US authorities. His lawyer, Goran Rodić, didn’t reply immediately to DL News’ request for comment.

Ana Ćurić is DL News data correspondent. Gave a tip? Contact the author at ana@dlnews.com.