Do Kwon Unlikely to Face Criminal Charges in US, Say Legal Experts – According to legal experts, Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon is unlikely to face criminal charges in the United States for the collapse of cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) as well as stablecoin terrausd. They explained that civil charges, such as lawsuits by cryptocurrency investors, are more likely.
The recent collapse of cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) as well as algorithmic stablecoin terrausd (UST) has prompted issues about whether Do Kwon, the project’s creator, may be found accountable.
According to CNBC, Randall Eliason, a professorial lecturer in law at the George Washington University Law School who spent 12 years as an assistant United States attorney for the District of Columbia, explained that Kwon is unlikely to face criminal charges.
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“It’s not like a homicide where you bring in witnesses to testify to who pulled the trigger,” he said, emphasizing that prosecutors must prove criminal wrongdoing beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to the legal expert:
“We’re attempting to demonstrate what was going on inside someone’s head. This is often a time-consuming procedure.”
“It entails reviewing a lot of documents, talking to a lot of people, dealing with all of their lawyers throughout the process, and scheduling grand jury time and court appearances,” he emphasized.
Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor and trial attorney, said prosecutors “often rely on emails, texts, tweets, and other statements” to prove the defendant’s state of mind beyond a reasonable doubt.
Eliason used Theranos and former CEO Elizabeth Holmes as an example. In this case, they misled investors into believing they were running blood samples on their own machines when, in fact, they were using machines from other companies.
According to Eliason:
“Things like that are pretty suggestive of true intent to deceive and defraud as opposed to merely misjudgments, misunderstandings, or other minor sorts of misconduct.”
Unlike criminal cases, civil cases have a lower standard of proof and are usually decided by a majority of the evidence. The burden of proof is met under the preponderance standard when the party with the burden convinces the fact finder that the claim has a greater than 50% chance of being true.
Eliason went into detail:
“Frequently, the appropriate remedies in these types of instances are civil, regulatory, and administrative — rather than criminal.”
Lawsuits brought by crypto investors could be included in civil cases. A class action lawsuit against Kwon, his firm Terraform Labs, and the company’s co-founder has already been filed in South Korea.
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Kwon is already in trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States (SEC). Earlier this year, he dodged a few subpoenas and filed a suit opposing the regulator.
“In addition to the private individuals who were harmed, there are a lot of other prospective agencies or governments who may look into this activity,” the legal expert noted.
There will be jurisdictional concerns to deal with. South Korean authorities may have something to say about possible sanctions because he isn’t in the United States.
