The USA Legal professional’s Workplace revealed a further cost for Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon following his extradition from Montenegro: cash laundering conspiracy.
In a superseding indictment unsealed on Jan. 2 within the US District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York, US Legal professional Damian Williams alleged Kwon conspired with others to commit cash laundering.
In accordance with the US Legal professional, the Terraform co-founder facilitated transactions of greater than $10,000 on the platform “figuring out that the property concerned in sure monetary transactions represented the proceeds of some type of illegal exercise.”
The cash laundering cost was a part of a superseding indictment not initially filed as a part of the eight-count indictment towards Kwon in March 2023. Prosecutors filed the indictment underneath seal in Might 2024, and a decide ordered it unsealed amid Kwon’s courtroom look on Jan. 2.
Kwon, alleged to have been concerned within the 2022 collapse of the Terra ecosystem, was arrested and jailed in Montenegro for utilizing falsified journey paperwork in 2023. Authorities from the US and South Korea filed competing petitions to extradite the Terraform co-founder, however Montenegrin authorities didn’t resolve on his authorized standing till December 2024, when Kwon was handed over to US officers.
Trial or plea deal?
The Terraform co-founder appeared in courtroom on Jan. 2 and pleaded not guilty to all fees, agreeing to be held in detention. It’s unclear whether or not US authorities will take into account a plea deal or intend to maneuver ahead with a legal trial.
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Kwon’s case parallels that of former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried — one other crypto govt who was topic to a different nation’s jurisdiction (the Bahamas) earlier than being extradited to the US. In SBF’s case, his attorneys have been capable of argue a marketing campaign finance cost added to a superseding indictment should be dropped because it was not a part of the extradition request.
Bankman-Fried was later convicted of seven felony counts and sentenced to 25 years in jail, however he has filed an enchantment.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao — one other important trade determine — pleaded responsible to at least one cost and served 4 months in jail in 2024.
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