Do Kwon Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud Following Extradition to US: Reuters

Do Kwon, founder of the failed Terra Luna crypto ecosystem, pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud following his Dec. 31 extradition to the U.S., Reuters reported on Thursday.

Kwon’s Terraform Labs developed the luna cryptocurrency and algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD, which collapsed in 2022 with the loss of an estimated $40 billion. Kwon faces charges that include securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

Federal prosecutors allege that Kwon misled investors in 2021 about the algorithm that was designed to maintain stablecoin terraUSD’s value of $1, according to Thursday’s indictment.

Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger for the Southern District of New York ordered Kwon to be detained ahead of returning to court on Jan. 8.

Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 on passport forgery charges, and has been fighting extradition to the U.S. for over a year.