A Seoul court rejected a request by prosecutors for arrest warrants for eight people associated with Terraform Labs, including Terraform Labs co-founder Daniel Shin, early investors and former engineers.
It’s hard to believe they would flee or destroy evidence, as Shin and the seven other suspects cooperated in the investigation. said Yonhap News, citing the court in Seoul. In addition, the defendants must also be guaranteed their right to defend themselves against the capital market rules allegations, which the court believes to be the core charge of this case. Yonhap.
The Seoul South District Prosecutor’s Office told businesskinda.com it’s hard to understand that conclusion given the court knows the gravity of the allegation and the fact that some of the defendants allegedly made money selling Luna tokens before the collapse. And yet the court rejected the arrest warrants and said the eight people should have the right to defend their case against charges.
Shin is accused of taking illegal profits worth approximately $105 million by selling Luna tokens when it was near its all-time high, without disclosing this move to investors. It happened before the collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna earlier this year, in violation of the Capital Market Act. Prosecutors also suspect that Shin used customer data from his separate fintech startup Chai to promote Luna in violation of the Electric Financial Transaction Act. The other seven people involved with Terraform also allegedly have similar charges.
Shin has denied allegations of trading Luna at a market high and violating clients’ data. Terraform was founded in Singapore in 2018 by Do Kwon and Shin. Shin left Terraform in March 2020 to found Chai and stepped down as CEO of Chai earlier this year.
South Korean prosecutors began the investigation after the crash of the UST-Luna token earlier this year, which wiped out $40 billion in market value. In September, South Korea issued an arrest warrant for another co-founder, Kwon, whose whereabouts are currently unknown, and requested Interpol, the international law enforcement agency, to issue a red notice for Kwon.
Terraform Labs could not be reached for comment.
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