Desired crypto exec is connected to $60 billion crash faces passport freeze

October 10, 2022: -On Thursday, South Korean authorities started canceling the passport of Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon, whose company was after a $60 billion cryptocurrency collapse.

Police have also captured one person in connection with Kwon’s operations.

The South Korean foreign ministry has ordered Kwon to return his passport by October 19 or face having the document canceled.

The saga amid Kwon and South Korean authorities continues to intensify following the collapse of terraUSD, and luna wiped billions off of the cryptocurrency market and sent shockwaves through the industry. Kwon’s company, Terraform Labs, was behind both digital coins.

South Korean authorities looked to arrest Kwon last month and claimed he was on the run. The prosecutors said that Interpol, the global policing organization, has issued a “Red Notice” for Kwon. Such notices are issued for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence.

Kwon insists he is not on the run. His whereabouts are still unknown.

The Seoul Southern District prosecutors’ office, chasing Kwon, has accused the founder and five others of violating capital markets law and fraud. On Thursday, the office said it had arrested one of the people it was looking for, named Yu.

No arrest warrant has been issued. But authorities can arrest someone because of concern that this person may feel. A contract must be granted within 48 hours of the arrest, or the person must be let go.

South Korean prosecutors have also requested KuCoin and OKX, two cryptocurrency exchanges, to freeze more than $60 million bitcoin tied to Kwon.

On Wednesday, local media stated that prosecutors had frozen an additional 56.2 billion South Korean won of digital assets belonging to Kwon.

However, the crypto founder refuted those claims on Twitter. Kwon said no funds had been frozen.