Montenegrin Court Reinstates Do Kwon's Bail; Dismisses Prosecutor's Appeal

A court in Montenegro has once again granted bail to Do Kwon, the disgraced Co-Founder of Terraform Labs who was accused of fraud in South Korea and the US, after an appeal by the local prosecutors fell through. In an announcement made on Friday, the Basic Court of Podgorica said it had re-adopted the bail terms set on May 12 which state that Kwon and Terraform Labs' Chief Financial Officer, Han Chang-Joon, each pay 400,000 euros (US$428,241).

Confinement under Police Surveillance

Furthermore, according to the bail agreement, the local police would keep the duo under strict supervision, and none of them is allowed to leave the apartment where they are confined. The announcement added that the failure of both parties to comply would forfeit their bail.

Kwon and Han were reportedly on the run following an investigation into the collapse of Terraform Labs' cryptocurrency projects, TerraUSD and LUNA, in May 2022, which wiped out more than $40 billion from the cryptocurrency market. Both South Korean nationals were arrested at Podgorica Airport in March while attempting to leave the city using fake travel documents.

In May, the Basic Court of Podgorica granted them bail, but it was later appealed by the prosecutors and annulled by an upper court because the defendants' property had not been sufficiently assessed. However, on Friday, the decision was overturned.

"The court appreciated the fact that they are persons who are not Montenegrin citizens, that is why it accepted their statements about the value of the property they own, which were supported by concrete evidence," the Basic Court originally said in Montenegrin and was translated to English using Google Translate.

According to a local newspaper, Vijesti, lawyers representing Kwon and Han recently submitted documents regarding the defendants' financial status as evidence to the courts.

More Time to Authenticate 'Fake Documents'

Furthermore, the court said it needed sufficient time to verify the authenticity of the Belgium passports and identity cards which were found on Kwon and Han as ID. Earlier, the pair had their passports confiscated in South Korea.

The prosecutors in the case have been given three days to appeal the court's latest decision, with the next hearing set for June 16.

In February, the US federal securities regulators charged Do Kwon for engaging in commodities, securities, and wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud investors through market manipulation. Similarly, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Kwon for operating a 'multi-billion-dollar crypto asset securities fraud'.

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