“Terra Co-Founder Charged in South Korea Amid Allegations of Fraud and Forged Documents”

Terraform Labs has not yet responded to a request for comment, it said Reuters agency.

Shin’s partner Do Kwon, who is also a South Korean citizen, was already charged in late 2022 with the same crimes – for violating the Capital Markets Act.

Kwon was arrested in Montenegro last month and remains in custody. Extradition is being sought by both South Korea and the United States in connection with their own investigations. Montenegrin police charged Kwon and another suspect with forging official documents after finding forged Costa Rican passports, a set of Belgian passports, laptops and other devices in their luggage.

Kwon and Shin collaborated on the development of TerraUSD, a so-called stablecoin cryptocurrency, and its Luna pair token. These cryptocurrencies crashed in May 2022, dropping their value to less than a penny, sending shockwaves through the cryptocurrency market and leading to allegations of fraud.