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Author: Turner Wright, CoinTelegraph; Compiled by: Deng Tong, Bitchain Vision
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed another charge against Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon after he was extradited to the United States from Montenegro: a money laundering conspiracy.
On January 2, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York released an alternative indictment, where U.S. Attorney Damian Williams accused Kwon of conspiring to launder money with others.
According to U.S. AttorneysTerraform’s co-founder facilitated over $10,000 in transactions on the platform, “knowing that certain financial transactions involve property representing the proceeds of some form of illegal activity.”
Do Kwon’s alternative indictment was released on January 2.Source: Courtlistener
The money laundering charges were part of the replacement indictment and were not initially filed as part of eight indictments against Kwon in March 2023.Prosecutors sealed the indictment in May 2024, and the judge ordered Kwon to unblock it when he appeared on Jan. 2.
Kwon, who was allegedly involved in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022, was arrested and jailed in Montenegro in 2023 for using fake travel documents.U.S. and South Korean authorities filed a competing petition to extradite Terraform co-founder, but Montenegro authorities did not decide on his legal status until December 2024, when Kwon was handed over to U.S. officials.
Trial or plea agreement?
The Terraform co-founder appeared in court on January 2, pleaded not guilty to all charges and agreed to be detained.It is unclear whether U.S. authorities will consider plea agreements or intend to continue a criminal trial.
Kwon’s case is similar to that of former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried — another cryptocurrency executive who was under the jurisdiction of another country (the Bahamas) before being extradited to the United States.In the SBF case, his attorney was able to argue that the campaign funding charges added to the replacement indictment should be dropped because it was not part of the extradition request.
Bankman-Fried was later convicted of seven felony counts and sentenced to 25 years in prison, but he has filed an appeal.
Another important industry figure, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to one charge and served four months in 2024.
