NEW YORK (AP)-The South Korean cryptocurrency magnate Do Kwon pleaded guilty on Tuesday with two fraud accusations resulting from the collapse of $ 40 billion in a cryptocurrency ecosystem that had promised investors that their money was sure.
Kwon, 33, nicknamed by some like “the king of cryptocurrency”, pleaded in the Federal Court of Manhattan.
According to a plea agreement signed by Kwon and the prosecutors, the government said that it would not ask for a prison sentence of more than 12 years as long as Kwon complies with the conditions of the agreement, even if the federal directives of determination of the sentence have recommended a prison sentence of about 25 years. The conviction is set for December 11.
Authorities said investors around the world had lost money in Singapore Crypto Society, Terraform Labs, a cryptocurrency accident of $ 40 billion. Kwon co -founded the company in 2018.
THE May 2022 collapse came after the company said Terrausd was a reliable “stablecoin”.
Terrausd has been designed as a “stablecoin”, a currency that is set for stable assets such as the dollar to prevent drastic price fluctuations. However, around 40 billion dollars of market value was erased for Terrausd holders and her floating sister currency, Luna, after the shield plunged well below her ankle at $ 1.
Kwon was extradited In the United States, on December 31 of Montenegro after its March 23, 2023, the arrest during its trip to a false passport in Europe.
As part of his plea to a chief of conspiracy in order to commit fraud on raw materials, fraud in securities and wire fraud and a second leader of fraud by wire, Kwon also agreed to give up more than $ 19 million, an amount which, according to the authorities, reflected the poorly acquired product. He will also lose his interest in Terraform and his cryptocurrencies.
His lawyer, Sean Hecker, said the advocacy meant that Kwon had accepted the responsibility of making false and deceptive statements to investors.
In a statement, the lawyer said that his client “assumes the responsibility to deceive the terra community”.
In a press release, American lawyer Jay Clayton said that Kwon “used the technological promise and euphoria investment around cryptocurrency to commit one of the biggest frauds in history.”
He said investors around the world had been billions of dollars in losses.
