A Montenegrin high court has revoked bail for Terraform Labs co- founder Do Kwon and the previous chief financial officer.
The court overturned an earlier decision, Marija Rakovic, a court spokeswoman, confirmed to DL News this afternoon.
An appeal against bail
Terraform Labs co-founders Do Kwon and Han Chang-joon, who were arrested at an airport in Podgorica in March while tryingย to flee to Dubai using counterfeit Costa Rican passports, are now confronted with charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and market manipulation in theย Unitedย States and South Korea.
In Montenegro, the duo had previously pleaded not guilty to the charges of utilizing forged documents.
Nonetheless, following a court ruling on May 12, Do Kwon and Han Chang-joon were granted bail under the condition of paying โฌ400,000 ($437,000) each. During this acceptance, Prosecutor Haris ล abotiฤ voiced objections against the bail decision.
ล abotiฤ pointed out the absence of specified conditions for monitoring the activities of the defendants under surveillance, in addition to concerns regarding theย capacity for the defendants to deliberately evade court hearings and further delay proceedings by failing to respond to court summons.
Days thereafter, on May 17, the State Prosecutorโs Office in Montenegroโs financialย resources Podgorica, appealed the bail, concurring with the prosecutorโs argument that a bail amount of 800,000 euros could not be considered as a reliable guarantee, and neither could the assurances provided by the duo that they would not flee upon their release from detention.
The court has reversed its decision to provides bail to Do Kwon and his associate, with the matter now being referred back to the basic court for approval, reportsย by Rakovic. Althoughย while the judges from both courts engage in ongoing discussions over the status of the ruling, Kwon and Chang-joon will remain in custody.
Larger implications
Kwonโs alleged engagementย in a multi- Billion dollar cryptocurrency fraud scheme has garnered international attention, with jurisdictions worldwide searching for him. The collapse of the Terraย (LUNA) network in 2022 had a wholeย lotย of impact on the cryptocurrency market, leading to the closure and bankruptcy of numerous businesses.ย
Theย pastย few decision to revoke the granted bail underscores the seriousness of the states against Kwon and his co-accused, Han Chang-joon, and outlines theย capacity industry-wide repercussions of their actions.ย
Around the same time reports of Do Kwonโs bail surfaced, Kwon cashed out $2.8 Million worth of cryptocurrency before being released on bail in Montenegro.
