Terraform Rams CEO to be prosecuted by Montenegro prosecutors

Montenegro’s prosecutors have served an indictment proposal for Terraform Rams CEO Hong Chang-joon and Kwon Do-hyeong for forging official travel documents. 

The duo was arrested in Podgorica Airport, the capital of Montenegro, as they attempted to board a private jet to Dubai.

Kwon and Hong held for alleged fake documents

The State of Podgorica Prosecutor’s Office has filed charges against Korean defendants Hong Chang-joon and Kwon Do-hyeong for forging official documents such as passports and other identification documents.

Haris Šabotić, a Podgorica court prosecutor, requested extended detention of the two suspects before determining the case.

Han requested that he records his statement in native Korean, further delaying the waiting period as the court is looking for a translator from the South Korean embassy, which is 200 miles away in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital.

A spokesperson from the court said that the office would alert the public of all the information regarding the case. The two South Koreans are facing a probable sentence of three months to five years if found guilty of the charges.

The extension might hold back the efforts by South Korean and U.S. authorities to pass a judgment on Kwon. The Terra co-founded has been charged with several fraud crimes in South Korea and the U.S. for his alleged role in the collapse of the Terra blockchain network in May 2022.

Han is also wanted for financial fraud in South Korea. Kwon is facing eight fraud-related charges from the U.S. authorities in Singapore, where the Terra ecosystem is based. 

Terra’s tokens, TerraUSD and Luna, collapsed in May 2022, bringing down $60 billion in market value.

Kwon’s predicaments

Kwon Do-hyeong, once hailed as the ‘Crypto King’ for his ambition to fiercely build an altcoin rivaling ethereum, had fled from Interpol for months before being arrested on March 23 at Podgorica Airport in Montenegro. The suspect used a counterfeit Costa Rican passport to travel through a leased private jet. 

In September, his associate and co-founder of Terraform, Han Chang-joon, bought a $2.2 million apartment in Belgrade, Serbia.

The duo had hidden in that apartment for several months and even founded a new company, “Codokoj22 d.o.o. Beograd,” on October 12. The new company was under Kwon’s real name and was formed despite the duo receiving a red notice from Interpol. 

Serbian prosecutors took over the apartment on March 14 but did not arrest the duo, which had already fled to Montenegro.