US DOJ Begins a Probe Against Terraform Labs (Report)

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) reportedly launched an investigation against Terraform Labs and its former employees to explore what led to the collapse of the project’s native token – LUNA – and its algorithmic stablecoin – UST.

The US SEC recently accused the entity and its co-founder – Do Kwon – of orchestrating a massive fraud, suggesting this could be the main factor behind the catastrophe. 

US DOJ Joins the Club

According to a Wall Street Journal coverage, the FBI and the Southern District of New York have started questioning former members of Terraform Labs to investigate the reasons that triggered the LUNA/UST crash in May last year. 

The US SEC filed charges against the organization and its co-creator – Do Kwon – earlier this year, claiming they ran a massive scam by offering and selling unregistered securities through the use of digital currencies. According to the agency, the scheme prompted severe financial losses for institutional and retail investors. 

It also accused Terraform Labs of making false statements that it was in a partnership with a leading Korean mobile payment application. The Commission added that Kwon allegedly aimed to drain customer funds and later use them for personal benefit.

If the investigations launched by the SEC and the DOJ determined that the blockchain entity and Do Kwon were guilty, this could lead to jail sentences for the South Korean developer and some of his former colleagues.

The Terra failure was among crypto’s darkest events in 2022. UST, which was supposed to have a fixed $1 valuation, depegged against the dollar and plunged way below its target, which caused an infinite arbitrage loop that eventually wiped the value of UST clean.

This hyper-inflated the supply of the native coin, and eventually, both assets lost virtually all their value in a matter of days. The demise caused not only financial losses but also led to suicides. 

Looking for the Alleged Culprit

Numerous institutions and investors accused Do Kwon of having a role in the collapse, insisting he should face justice. The 31-year-old developer was reluctant to cooperate and supposedly hid in different spots across the globe, with Dubai, Singapore, Russia, and Mauritius being some of the possible locations.

Most recent sources hinted that he might be currently residing in Serbia. As CryptoPotato reported, a delegation of South Korean authorities arrived at the Balkan nation last month to seek Kwon (who is also hunted by Interpol).

Interestingly, he vowed to reveal his whereabouts in November 2022 and even invited law enforcement agencies to participate in the event. Kwon has still not provided the promised data and has kept a low profile on Twitter, not posting anything for several months.