South Korean Authorities Seize Terra Executives Assets Worth $160M

Do Kwon, the CEO of Terraform Labs, was detained in Montenegro about two weeks ago after attempting to travel to another country using forged papers to conceal his identity.

After his true name was out, both the United States and South Korea sought his extradition.

It is currently unknown which proposal will be favored by Montenegrin officials. In the meantime, Korean officials have been active back home, seizing property belonging to Terraform Labs execs, according to local news.

Following Kwon’s detention, Korean authorities sought an arrest order for Terraform Labs co-founder Shin “Daniel” Hyun-Song. The request was refused because officials in South Korea did not think he intended to destroy evidence or leave the country.

Following the refusal, South Korean authorities chose to take additional steps against Terraform Labs‘ co-founder and other executives, seizing real estate from him and another unnamed individual, according to the local Korean daily KBS News. An extra five Terraform Labs workers’ property was allegedly seized. 

Korean LEOs, according to KBS, claimed that the action was taken to guarantee that all of the suspects’ property would be accessible for post-trial lawsuits, should they be found guilty. Hyun-Song is charged with a number of offenses, including insider trading, which is claimed to have led to an ill-gotten gain of 100 billion won, or roughly $76 million.

“We are still investigating the property ownership status of the suspects, and we plan to carry out collection preservation for the confirmed property in the future in order to recover the proceeds of crime and recover damages.”

At the moment of writing, the entire value of the seized goods is 210 billion won, or about $160 million. The majority of it is made up of real estate, and the $31 million value of the executive’s possessions were seized. On the other hand, Shin Hyun-Song’s seized stake was worth almost twice as much.

If Hyun-Song’s insider trading claims turn out to be accurate, even the confiscation of his real estate would not be sufficient to cover the amount obtained through unlawful means, leaving an additional $11 million unaccounted for.