South Korean prosecutors reportedly searched and seized millions of dollars worth of property belonging to Terra executives and employees. A recent report of South Korea’s national broadcaster, KBS, revealed that the Joint Investigation Team on Financial and Securities Crime of the Prosecutor’s Office of the South District of Seoul has “collected and preserved 210 billion won”. [$159.5 million] in real estate, mainly in real estate.
This was done to “recover the undue profits of eight people”. One of them was the co-founder of Terraform Labs, Shin Hyun-seong. According to the translated version of the report,
“It has been confirmed that the amount of damages collected by the prosecution for the property of Terraform Labs executives and employees accused of the Terra and Luna virtual currency incidents has so far exceeded 200 billion won.“
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Commenting on the latest development, a prosecutor’s official reportedly said:
“We are still investigating the property status of the suspects and we plan to conduct collection preservation for the confirmed properties in the future to recover the proceeds of crime and punitive damages.”
“Improper Profits” remain on the radar
In addition, prosecutors are looking at the amount of “unjustified profits” Shin made while working at Terra. If reported previously, Shin was pinned for storing LUNA tokens that were pre-spent without notifying mainstream investors. He reportedly earned more than 140 billion Korean won when he sold the tokens at a higher valuation. The value of the same roughly translated to $105.52 million.
However, Shin reportedly made a statement to the prosecution who stated that “more than 70% of the Luna sold was traded before the price soared. He added that “a significant amount of money was held even at the time of the collapse.” The latest KBS report found that the number of unfair profits has increased by about 10 billion won, bringing the figure to 154.1 billion won [$117.1 million]. Prosecutors are also trying to track down and freeze hidden assets. According to KBS,
“In addition, the prosecution estimated that the amount of unfair profits earned by Terra’s seven employees, not counting ex-CEO Shin, amounted to KRW 169 billion, of which KRW 114 billion was collected and retained.”
The report further pointed out that in November 2022, the prosecution seized Shin’s home in Seoul. So far, they are said to have collected and preserved about 100 billion won [$76 million] from the property of former CEO Shin.
In other Terra related news, recently Watcher Guru reported that Do Kwon registered a company that provides “consulting services” for less than $1. That happened in Q4 last year. Kwon is the sole owner of the entity. However, Han Chang-joon, the former CEO of Chai Corporation, is listed as co-director.