Following an ongoing investigation into the meltdown of the Terra ecosystem, South Korean authorities have captured the first person. Yoo Mo, head of general business operations at Terrafoam Labs, was apprehended after prosecutors in Seoul issued a bench warrant against him on October 5.
Terra’s Head Of General Affairs Detained
Efforts to arrest Do Kwon, the co-founder and CEO of the now-defunct stablecoin issuer Terraform Labs, and the other individuals behind the Terra blockchain and its failed coins, TerraUSD (UST) and LUNA, are intensifying.
According to a Thursday report from local news outlet JTBC, Kwon’s “key aide”, Yoo Mo, has been arrested. Mo is charged with breaching Korean capital markets law and fraud by manipulating the price of the UST algorithmic stablecoin. Authorities did not divulge details of the detention, such as the time and place.
Nevertheless, a South Korean judge has cancelled the bench warrant for Yoo, positing: “it is difficult to see the necessity and significance of arrest,” as per Yonhap News. It’s worth bearing in mind that Yoo is one of the Terra associates for whom a Seoul Court issued an arrest warrant alongside the controversial Do Kwon.
Kwon’s Passport Revoked
Despite Do Kwon frequently maintaining that Terra was not a fraud project and that he also lost all of his net worth in the spectacular $40 billion wipeout event back in May, authorities in Korea are still on the hunt for him.
Last month, Kwon was added to Interpol’s red notice list at the Seoul authorities’ request. This means the central figure behind the failed Terra blockchain is now a fugitive in 195 countries. Kwon has yet to be located. He recently refuted reports that authorities have frozen $39.6 million of his crypto assets.
The arrest of Yoo comes after South Korea officially voided Kwon’s passport. The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave him 14 days to return the passport to authorities.
While Kwon’s fate is still unknown at the moment, there’s a good chance that authorities are determined to make an example of him due to the magnitude of Terra’s implosion.
