Do Kwon, the creator of Terraform Laboratories, was charged with five fraud-related crimes by federal prosecutors hours after being detained by Montenegro, New York, police.
The petition further claims that Do Kwon got in touch with a representative of a US trading and investment company to ask for assistance in "modifying the market price of UST" that the firm had offered.
The company in question appears to be Jump Crypto, and the SEC made a comparable allegation in its case last month.
In line with the indictment, Kwon was accused of conspiracy to conduct fraud, commodity fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to manipulate the market. For misleading investors and marketing unregistered securities and stock swaps, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed civil charges against Terraform and Do Kwon in February.
The Justice Department will attempt to deport Do Kwon to the United States, as per to a representative for the Manhattan office of the United States Attorney, based on a report in the Wall Street Journal.
As per prior reports, Do Kwon was detained by police at the Podgorica Airport in Montenegro earlier on Thursday using falsified documents, based on Filip Adzic, the interior minister of Montenegro. Afterwards, his identity was confirmed by the Korean National Police Agency.
Do Kwon evaded capture for months after the demise of LUNA-UST in May 2022 while simultaneously being the subject of a South Korean investigation and being listed on both the Korea and Interpol wanted lists.
The value of both the old LUNA token (LUNC) and the new LUNA token (deployed by Do Kwon following the crypto crash) fell precipitously following the arrest.
Price of Terra (LUNA) fell to $1.27 at the time, an 8% decline. The token has currently risen to a level of $1,350.
Terra Classic (LUNC) is currently trading at $0.000123, down 4% from its previous price. It has since returned to the previous pricing, though. It is currently trading for $0.001261.
