A federal court in the United States has planned a hearing for Tuesday in the criminal case against Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs. During this meeting, Kwon could change his plea for (part of) the charges, according to court documents.
Judge Paul Engelmayer of the court in the Southern District of New York bore both parties on Monday to appear. He stated that the suspect must make a clear statement about the crimes for which he pleads guilty. He also encouraged the defense to prepare this statement in advance, so that it can be read during the hearing.
Background: collapse of terra ecosystem and arrest
Kwon still argued in innocent charges in January, including securities fraud, market manipulation, money laundering and telephrude. These charges are related to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022, with an estimated 40 billion dollars being lost in investor capital.
After the crash, Kwon disappeared from the radar for months. In March 2023 he was arrested in Montenegro for the use of forged travel documents. Both the US and South Korea asked for extradition. His legal team managed to stop those requests for more than a year, but in December 2024 Kwon was eventually transferred to the American authorities.
Uncertainty about possible settlement in the US
Since his extradition, Kwon has been detained without bail. His process was planned for January 2026. It is still unclear which agreements made his legal team with the American Public Prosecution Service. Judicial documents show that there have been “productive conversations” with the team of interim officer of Justice Jay Clayton.
Tuesday’s session comes less than a week after the same court Roman Storm, co -founder of Tornado Cash, was guilty of exploiting an illegal money transaction service.
Earlier settlement with American regulator sec
Terraform Labs closed a settlement in 2024 with the American stock market watchdog SEC. The company agreed in paying around 4.5 billion dollars to fines, interest and reimbursements to investors. A civil procedure against the company was completed with that settlement.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/do-kwon-mogelijk-wijziging-van-pleidooi-in-amerikaanse-zaak-terraform-labs/
