Terra founder Do Kwon has fallen out of the frying pan and into the fire with a recent public notice from South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs calling upon him to surrender his passport.
According to the notice posted on the Ministry’s website on Wednesday, October 5th, authorities needed to issue a public advisory as Kwon failed to respond to a privately-sent passport return order. The announcement also stated that Kwon’s applications for a new passport would most likely be rejected.
The notice shows a Ministry document advising Kwon that a formal passport return order would be sent to him via registered mail and that any South Korean passports he holds are immediately canceled and invalidated on an administrative level.
Ministry officials gave Kwon fourteen days in which to hand in his passport.
Under ordinary circumstances, Kwon may not leave South Korea, given the invalidation of his passport. At the same time, if Kwon is not within the country, he will have trouble traveling anywhere overseas.
What Happens Now?
The announcement comes right on the heels of a press statement released by South Korean prosecutors regarding the freezing of around $40 million in crypto assets allegedly owned by Kwon. The assets are said to be in different online crypto exchanges.
Kwon, however, has denied that he owns the aforementioned assets; nor has he had any dealings with any of the exchanges cited in the statement.
Likewise, the Terra founder has denied that he is currently on the run from the authorities. However, he is the subject of a standing arrest warrant in his home country. Likewise, a number of officials from Singapore’s financial regulatory authority, as well as investigators, say that the errant Kwon cannot be located and that he cannot be contacted by any means.
But what is noticeable is that Kwon continues to be active on Twitter, seemingly taunting officials by posting contrary statements. For example, he scathingly told off Korean officials that he did not find any Red Notices made against him by Interpol officials on that agency’s website.
Through a statement issued by his company Terraform Labs, Kwon previously remarked that the arrest warrant issued against him was beyond the scope of authority. He added that the investigation violated his rights and had become increasingly political over time.
As of press time, however, Kwon’s chief aide, Terra head of general affairs Yoo Mo, was arrested by South Korean authorities in an undisclosed location. Mo has been charged with fraud as well as market manipulation.
