South Korean prosecutors have confirmed that Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon wired 9 billion won ($7 billion) to top South Korean law firm Kim & Chang just before the Terra ecosystem collapsed.
Kwon's decision to pay the law firm millions of dollars was flagged by prosecutors as a deliberate move, which allegedly reaffirmed his awareness of the imminent collapse and anticipated legal problems, KBS News reported. Prosecutors, in their attempt to link Kwon's advances to the law firm in bad faith, argued that the information would help in an ongoing fraud case. Additionally, Kim & Chang's lawyers visited Montenegro to meet with Kwon and Terraform's former CFO Han Chang-joon.
Earlier, Kwon was arrested at Montenegro's Podgorica airport after trying to fly to Dubai using forged documents. After his arrest, both U.S. and South Korean authorities sought extradition rights. However, the court has not yet reached a decision. On April 7, South Korean prosecutors revealed that Kwon was suspected of transferring illegal funds from Terra to bitcoin. Prosecutors asked Binance to stop all Kwon-related withdrawal requests.
In total, prosecutors uncovered 414.5 billion won ($314.2 million) in illicit assets linked to Terraform Labs co-founder Kwon and his associates, with some 91.4 billion won ($69 million) reportedly directly tied to Kwon.
“We provided the requested assistance to South Korean LE authorities. As we are unable to comment on the ongoing LE investigation, please contact the prosecutors for any further comment,” a Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph in an interview.
