​Montenegrin court agrees to release Do Kwon on bail of $427 500

What’s new? Do Kwon, founder of Terraform Labs (TFL), and his assistant, Han Chang-joon, were released on bail of €400 000 ($427 500 at the time of writing) each. The decision was made by the court of first instance in Podgorica after rejecting an appeal by the District Attorney’s Office. Following their release on bail, the defendants will remain under house arrest in Montenegro, and their bail will be forfeited to the court budget in the event of an attempt to flee or other violations.

Link to the court ruling

How did events develop? Do Kwon and his assistant are accused of document forgery and were detained at Podgorica airport on March 23 with fake passports while trying to fly to Dubai. Kwon had been on the run since last year when the collapse of his Terra blockchain ecosystem in May caused tens of billions of dollars in losses for investors around the world.

On May 12, the court of first instance granted bail to those involved in the case. At the time, Do Kwon told the court that he had several million dollars worth of property and that his wife would pay the bail amount claimed. He also promised that he would not abscond from court until the end of the criminal proceedings, would respond regularly to summonses, and remain available at the address indicated by his lawyer.

The Podgorica District Prosecutor’s Office later appealed the decision, stating that bail does not guarantee the defendants’ presence in the country and that law enforcement officers lacked the conditions to determine surveillance measures.

In its latest decision to release the defendants on bail, the court considered personal and financial information, which included the purchase and sale contracts and title registration of Chang-joon’s real estate, as well as a vehicle bill of lading and Kwon’s bank account statements.

In addition to the lawsuit in Montenegro, warrants for Kwon’s arrest have been issued by Interpol and South Korea, of which he is a citizen.

Class-action lawsuits against TFL and Kwon were filed by investors from South Korea, the United States, and Singapore. The authorities in all three countries have also launched investigations into the incident. Separately, the US Attorney’s Office and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Kwon of fraud.

The SEC and Korea also accusedKwon of withdrawing 10 000 BTC from the Terra ecosystem and asked Swiss crypto bank Sygnum to freezethose funds. The authorities in both countries want to prosecute Kwon in their jurisdictions and intend to have him extradited from Montenegro. However, this will only be possible after a local trial and Kwon’s possible completion of his sentence.