No Bitcoin fortune has been frozen
- Do Kwon debunks the theory that he has a connection to a Bitcoin wallet that holds $40 million worth of BTC.
- The South Korean government can nail Do Kwon’s close associates to find out his whereabouts.
The South Korean government has threatened to “administratively invalidate” the passport of Terra Labs co-founder and CEO Do Kwon. The development came as a familiar sequel to the request by the South Korean government that Do Kwon hand over his passport within 14 days.
The latest development comes shortly after an earlier demand from a local prosecutor. Prosecutors stated that they had frozen about $40 million worth of BTC that allegedly belonged to Do Kwon. While Do Kwon has denied these allegations, the news of his passport being invalidated comes as a huge blow to the Terra boss.
On Wednesday, the South Korean ministry announced its intention to invalidate Do Kwon’s passport on its website. First, the move to invalidate the Terra chief’s passport became known around last month. The government also publicized the invalidation of Do Kwon’s passport due to an “inability to deliver” the passport return order.
The latest move will prevent Do Kwon from traveling out of South Korea if he is in the country. Similarly, he will not be able to travel to another country if he is outside of South Korea. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that with the invalidation, the Terra manager will not be able to apply for a passport again.
Nabbing Do Kwon Associates to Bring Do Kwon to Books?
Furthermore, Do Kwon’s whereabouts are currently unknown. While Do Kwon has maintained that he is not on the run, local prosecutors have maintained that he is nowhere to be found. More so, there are rumors that he may be in Singapore, but there are no official confirmations to support the claims. Nevertheless, there are indications that the authorities are tapping Do Kwon’s close associates to get to him.
Reports from South Korea indicate that the head of general affairs for Terra, Yoo Mo, has been detained by security agencies. The arrest comes hours after South Korean authorities issued a bench warrant against the Terra official. It is widely believed among top officials in the country that Yoo Mo is a close associate of Terraform Labs Boss Do Kwon.
Notably, the arrest marks the first since South Korean authorities began an investigation into the crashes of LUNA and UST. According to reports, Yoo Moo is facing charges of violating the Capital Markets Act, fraud and breach of duty. Allegations are emerging from prosecutors that Yoo Mo used bot programming to manipulate the market price of Terra.
Despite confirming the arrest, District Attorney Choi Sung-kook refused to reveal the time and location of the arrest.
Meanwhile, the Seol Southern District Court is currently working on issuing a “direct judgment of arrest warrant” on Yoo Mu. The direct judgment of the warrant will serve as the final ruling, perhaps to grant or deny the bench. As revealed, the decision will be announced before the end of the day. Recall that last month, local prosecutors issued another arrest warrant for Do Kwon, including Yoo Mo.