A New York court today sentenced South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur To Kwon to 15 years in prison for defrauding investors, who lost approximately $40 billion because of him. The AP reported this today.
Kwon admits to fraud
Kwon was behind the creation of Terraform Labs and the cryptocurrencies TerraUSD and Luna. According to US authorities, Kwon used false information to persuade investors to buy these cryptocurrencies and artificially inflated their value before their collapse in 2022.
The entrepreneur pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud in court in August. He had previously agreed to pay a $80 million fine and be banned from conducting cryptocurrency transactions.
Terraform Labs pays billion-dollar fine, Kwon extradited to the US
These penalties were part of an agreement between Terraform Labs and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle allegations of investor fraud. The agreement also included a $4.47 billion fine for Terraform Labs.
Kwon was extradited to the United States from Montenegro at the end of last year. Montenegrin authorities detained the entrepreneur in March 2023 on suspicion of falsifying travel documents. Kwon was on the run at the time.
Source: Reuters
