$67 Million in Bitcoin tied to Do Kwon frozen by South Korean Authorities
"The latest discovery in the long-drawn Terra ecosystem saga contradicts many of Do Kwon’s early claims. South Korean authorities have requested crypto exchange OKX and Kucoin to freeze 3,313 Bitcoin (BTC) reportedly tied to Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terra blockchain developer Terraform Labs" [Jha, P. Report: Korean authorities orders freeze of $67M of Bitcoin tied to Do Kwon. (Accessed September 28,2022)].
"On Tuesday, an official at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office confirmed to Bloomberg that requests have been sent to the two cryptocurrency exchanges to freeze the 3,313 BTC" [Helms, K. South Korea Seeks to Freeze 3,313 Bitcoin Allegedly Linked to Luna Founder Do Kwon. (Accessed September 28, 2022)].
The bitcoin was transferred to digital wallets of the exchanges shortly after an arrest warrant was issued for Kwon in South Korea on Sept. 14, according to the report. Authorities accused the crypto entrepreneur of violating the country's securities laws and issued the warrant just months after the collapse of the $40 billion Terra ecosystem, which triggered a market downturn and the collapse of other major players in the industry.
[Handagama, S. and Malwa, S. S. Korean Authorities Look to Freeze $67M Bitcoin Tied to Terra's Do Kwon. (Accessed September 28, 2022)].
"Kwon, who is currently on the run from the Korean authorities in the securities violation case, reportedly created a new wallet on Sept. 15, just a day after a Korean court issued an arrest warrant against the fugitive crypto founder. According to the crypto analytic group Cryptoquant, a new BTC wallet was created under the name of Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), and a total of 3,313 BTC was then transferred to the KuCoin and OKX exchange [Jha, supra].
Cryptoquant further specified that the new bitcoin addresses it found to be owned by LFG was based on "transaction patterns, adjacent flows and material non-public information" [Helms, supra].
"While Kwon has maintained he is not on the run, South Korean authorities had asked Interpol for assistance in locating him. On Monday, Interpol put out a Red Notice, which is a request to law enforcement around the world to locate and provisionally arrest Kwon pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action" [Handagama and Malwa, supra]:
"While KuCoin has frozen some 1354 BTC ($27 million) transferred to the platform, OKX is allegedly 'ignoring the prosecution's request to freeze assets' according to the article. 'OKX can confirm that it has received a request from the Korean authorities, and that it is cooperating with their investigation,' a spokesperson told CoinDesk following the publication of this article" [Id].
Nonetheless, by way of a tweet, Do Kwon is likewise maintaining his denial of these 'cash-out' allegations:
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