Accountability Remains Absent as Officials Scramble to Bring in Do Kwon and Associates

When 2022 kicked off, the Terra ecosystem and its increasingly popular pairing of LUNA & UST were seen as industry bright spots.  Fast forward mere months, and the collapse of this ill conceived project acted as a catalyst, burning down much of the optimism within the sector.  Along the way billions were lost, and companies like Celsius and Voyager became nothing more than collateral damage.  So now that we have entered Q4 of the calendar year, where does Terra stand, and has accountability among its orchestraters been achieved?

Invalidated Passport

Naturally, much of the news pertaining to accountability of the Terra ecosystem collapse will revolve around one person – Kwon Do-hyung or ‘Do Kwon’, Founder and CEO of Terraform labs.  While there are no doubt many individuals responsible for the events that transpired, as CEO it is Do Kwon that has become the face of the collapse.

Highlighting this is the extent to which governments are now going to in an attempt to bring him in to custody.  The most recent example of which saw the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs issue an order for the surrender of his passport, rendering it invalid.

This move was taken months after Do Kwon essentially became a fugitive, with warrants issued for his arrest and notices put out by Interpol.

The First Domino Falls

As officials build their case against those behind Terraform labs, many have been wondering when arrests will be made.  It now appears as though the first, in what will likely be a long line, of expected dominoes has finally fallen.

Local reports out of South Korea have announced that Yoo Mo, Head of the Business Team at Terraform labs and close confidant of Do Kwon, has officially been apprehended.

It is believed that the arrest was made based on allegations of fraud through market manipulation of TerraUSD (UST).  In addition, Yoo Mo is believed to have violated the Capital Markets Act.  The arrest was made roughly three weeks after an initial warrant was put out to bring the top brass at Terraform Labs in to custody.

Suspicious Transfers

Per CoinDesk Korea, shortly after the initial arrest warrants were issued for Do Kwon, multiple substantial BTC transfers were detected.  As a result, officials requested the that the exchanges involved (KuCoin and OKX) freeze the funds.

In total, the transfers equaled 3,313 BTC which were worth roughly $67M at the time.

Continued Denial

Interestingly, despite the various steps that have been taken by government officials and developments indicating otherwise, Do Kwon has remained in the public eye all the while remaining steadfast that he is NOT on the run.

Furthermore, he has denied the aforementioned claims that nearly $40M of his own crypto funds have been frozen, stating the following on Twitter.

Source: Twitter @stablekwon

As it stands, very little accountability for the collapse of the Terra ecosystem has been attained.  This however may soon change, as made evident by the aforementioned arrest of Yoo Mo.

Perhaps Do Kwon is not on the run. Perhaps his funds are not frozen.  Perhaps each of these reports are indeed just ‘muscle flexing’.  All the crypto community can do is wait and hope that officials will eventually provide answers.