Serbian lawyers exposed for helping Do Kwon set up shell company

Serbian lawyers helped Terra fugitive Do Kwon set up a shell company after global authorities issued notices for his capture.

Do Kwon arrested

The disgraced Terraform Labs co-founder was arrested in Montenegro on March 23 after months of evading authorities following the Terra ecosystem implosion. Investors are estimated to have lost $40 billion.

Although the Terra UST de-peg occurred in May 2022, it wasn’t until September 2022 that South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant on the grounds of violating financial laws.

Interpol issued a “red notice” for his capture a week later. Red notices call on global law enforcement to locate and provisionally arrest perpetrators.

At that time, Do Kwon was known to be in Singapore but had seemingly fled the city-state when the notices were issued. This fueled speculation over where he had run to.

Recent rumors pinned down his location to Serbia, which shares a border with Montenegro to the southwest.

Systemic corruption

Following Do Kwon’s arrest, DeFi Llama News obtained a document showing he had set up a company with the help of Serbian lawyers.

The document was dated October 12, 2022, three weeks after Interpol issued its red notice. Although written in Serbian, the document clearly showed that Do Kwon did not attempt to disguise his identity.

FatManTerra blasted the move, saying “corrupt lawyers in Serbia” helped him “establish a fresh shell company.” He added that “the system bends around” wealthy people while calling out his abuse of power.

“At every level, Do systematically abuses his power & stolen money in every way possible.”

Both U.S. and South Korean authorities seek extradition to their respective shores. However, neither country has a direct extradition treaty with Montenegro.

Nonetheless, Montenegro is a member of the Council of Europe. And South Korea does have a multilateral treaty in place with the European Convention on Extradition.