Fugitive crypto founder Do Kwon has been arrested in Montenegro under a false name, according to the European nation’s officials.
Kwon was on the run from South Korean, Singaporean and US authorities after the spectacular failure of his Terraform Labs and the stablecoin TerraUSD last year.
The meltdown cost investors billions of dollars, with Kwon accused of giving false assurances about TerraUSD and Terraform’s other token, Terra Luna.
In interviews conducted while on the run, Kwon denied he was in hiding and apologised for the pain the failure of Terraform has caused.
Kwon snared at airport
Montenegrin interior minister Filip Adzic broke the news with a tweet.
“The former “cryptocurrency king”, who is behind losses of more than 40 billion dollars, was detained at the Podgorica airport with falsified documents,” Adzic said.
While he said Kwon’s identity is still being confirmed, the news was also tweeted by other authorities, and there seems little doubt that Kwon is the man being held.
Montenegro is a small nation of just over 600,000 people, on the Adriatic Sea. It was formerly part of Yugoslavia.
Kwon’s fall from grace preceded the similar fate of accused fraud Sam Bankman-Fried, and while on the run Kwon accused Bankman-Fried and his Alameda investment firm of being instrumental in the collapse of TerraUSD.
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