South Korean Court Denies Arrest Warrant for Terraform Co-Founder Daniel Shin – Shin Hyun-seung, also known as Daniel Shin, was a co-founder of the bankrupt blockchain company Terraform Labs. The Seoul Southern District Court denied a plea by the Prosecutor’s Office for his pre-trial detention.
He is considered to have had a significant influence in the demise of the company’s cryptocurrencies, luna and terrausd. Shin’s arrest request was denied for a second time on Thursday, with the court ruling that he is unlikely to pose a flight risk or destroy evidence, as reported by Yonhap.
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The crypto entrepreneur is being investigated for unlawful profits made prior to last year’s market fall. In November, prosecutors initially requested an arrest warrant for Shin, but the court denied their plea. After the arrest of another Terraform founder, Do Kwon (Kwon Do-Hyung), last week, they refiled the warrant.
Kwon was apprehended while attempting to board a flight to Dubai from Montenegro. Authorities in South Korea seek his extradition, which will likely take time. According to his Montenegrin attorney and the country’s minister of justice, he will first be tried in the Balkan nation for using a forged Costa Rican passport.
Daniel Shin is charged with many counts of fraud and violations of the rules governing capital markets, financial transactions, and information in South Korea. He is suspected of holding pre-issued luna, collecting 140 billion won (about $108 million) by selling the tokens at a high price, and failing to warn investors about the possibility of the two cryptocurrencies collapsing.
Shin is also accused of exploiting customer data and funds from the financial company he led, Chai Corp., to promote luna. Since leaving Terraform Labs in March 2020 to establish Chai Corporation, he has disputed all of these allegations, stating he had no connection to the organization.
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According to a report by KBS, the national broadcaster of South Korea, the Seoul court accepted that the charges have been substantially verified, but noted that the risk of evidence destruction had been lessened by the arrest of Kwon. It also highlighted the significance of permitting Shin to exercise his right to self-defense.
Montenegro’s Interior Minister Filip Adžić revealed this week that investigators found three laptops and five mobile phones belonging to Kwon containing lots of “very interesting” information. During a press conference with Montenegrin Justice Minister Marko Kovač in Podgorica, officials announced that South Korea and the U.S., which also seeks Kwon’s extradition, have both requested the devices.