Former Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon, alongside his compatriot and former chief financial officer Han Chong-joon have been on the run from international police for months. They were arrested in Montenegro for allegedly holding two fake passports. None of that was enough to stop the Montenegrin court from offering the pair release on bail for around $US436,000. Now time will tell if the failed crypto founder, known for flights of fancy as well as recent international flights, actually stays put.
According to a release from the Podgorica basic court, where the ex-Terra execs are being held, the Montenegrin court granted bail for Kwon and Chong-joon individually on Friday. The two claimed they had property worth several million in their home country of South Korea, and that the bail would be posted by their wives. The court also said it needed time to verify the authenticity of the falsified passports.
Kwon’s attorney Branko Andjelic told the court Thursday the pair could stay at his girlfriend’s apartment in the country. The two are now barred from leaving the apartment, and according to the court that travel limitation is a “substitute for custody by a considerable extent.” The court said based on the alleged crypto crooks “personal and family circumstances… their property status, as well as the property status of the persons who provide bail,” the $US436,000 bail is enough to keep them from running… again.
Montenegrin prosecutors had objected to their release, saying the pair were an obvious flight risk who had “zero interest” in staying in the country. The plaintiff still has three days to appeal.
The bail could be a bare fraction of the pair’s total wealth. Kwon stated he owns property in South Korea worth about $US3.2 million, though all his assets in the country have been long-frozen by Korean authorities. Instead, the Securities and Exchange Commission has alleged Kwon has hid thousands of bitcoin currently worth well over $US200 million in a Swiss bank account.
The bitcoin baddies were arrested back in March for allegedly trying to flee to Dubai while holding forged Costa Rican and Belgian Passports. Kwon in particular is wanted by both the U.S. and South Korea on charges of fraud for his role in the $US40 billion crypto blowout in May of last year. Montenegrin authorities have mentioned they may hand off Kwon to foreign police once they finish with this current trial. That is, if the man — you know, the one both Korean and U.S. prosecutors claim lied to thousands of investors across the world — actually keeps his word.