South Korea Issues Warrant of Arrest To TFL Employees Amid Ongoing Do Kwon Manhunt

KEY POINTS

Authorities expanded its investigation surrounding Terra's collapse in May
On November 19, Shin's business, Chai Corporation, was raided by authorities who seized assets worth $104 million
Aside from Shin, three investors and four engineers were issued warrant of arrest

Amid the ongoing manhunt for the embattled Terraform Labs (TFL) CEO Do Kwon, South Korean prosecutors issued a warrant of arrest for TFL co-founder Daniel Shin and seven other engineers and investors of the company for allegedly taking illegal profits before the collapse of the Terra ecosystem.

South Korean authorities expanded the scope of the investigation surrounding the spectacular collapse of Terra that wiped out approximately $60 billion worth of investments. Aside from Kwon, authorities shifted their focus to TFL co-founder Shin and other TFL executives.

Shin is suspected of fraud and market manipulation and is believed to have processed pre-issued tokens without investors' knowledge. Authorities allege that the former TFL executive's actions allowed him to earn around $105 million when he sold those pre-issued tokens during the bull market.

On November 19, Shin's business, Chai Corporation, was raided by authorities who seized assets worth $104 million. The TFL co-founder is now charged with violating the Electronic Financial Transaction Act.

According to a local media report, authorities also issued warrant to three investors and four engineers, who were reportedly behind the development of the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and the ecosystem's native token LUNA. The arrest warrant was issued over the suspicion of fraud and other crimes, the report said.

Meanwhile, the crypto executive Do Kwon's whereabouts are still unknown and despite being on Interpol's red notice list, authorities have no clue where he is hiding.

Kwon has repeatedly said that he is not on the run but when asked for his specific location, refused to give it citing personal and security reasons. Despite his outstanding warrant, the TFL CEO said his team has not received anything from the South Korean authorities.

The Terra ecosystem collapsed in May but until now, reeling investors, some of whom had lost their life savings, are waiting for the result of various investigations surrounding the collapse. During the wake of FTX's collapse, Kwon released a statement, seemingly distancing himself from the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange and throwing a jab at the CEX industry in general.

"While there have been multiple recent failures in crypto, it is important to distinguish between Terra's case, where a transparent, open-source decentralized stablecoin failed to maintain peg parity and its creators spent proprietary capital to try to defend it, and the failure of centralized custodial platforms where its operators misused other people's money (customer funds) for financial gain," Kwon said.