Key takeaways:
- Do Kwon was found guilty of using a fake passport by a court in Montenegro and given a four-month prison term.
- Kwon claimed in court in Montenegro that he was unaware his passport was allegedly faked.
Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, was found guilty of using a fake passport by a court in Montenegro and given a four-month prison term.
Han Chong-joon, a coworker of Kwon’s and the former chief financial officer of Terraform Labs, was prosecuted along with him and was given the same punishment. The Montenegro Basic Court stated in a statement on its website that the length of time both men were detained would be taken into consideration.
Kwon was accused of trying to exit the nation while possessing a fake Costa Rican passport. He allegedly claimed in court in Montenegro that he was unaware his passport was allegedly faked and placed the blame on a company with a Chinese name.
Kwon informed the Montenegrin Basic Court that he obtained his allegedly fake passports and travel documents, including a Costa Rican passport, through third-party “agencies,” according to a report published on June 17 by the South Korean news site Segye Ilbo.
“I received my Costa Rica passport after filling in the documents required by a Singaporean agency that was recommended to me by a friend. I received my Belgian passport through another agency.”
Kwon claimed that since he had been using his Costa Rican passport to travel “for years,” he had no reason to question its validity. When the prosecution asked Kwon for more information regarding the company he used to obtain his passports, Kwon responded that he couldn’t “remember exactly” and that all he knew was that the company’s name was written in Chinese.
In addition to rejecting claims that he gave money to Milojko Spajić, the current leader of the Europe Now party in Montenegro, Kwon also refuted claims that he forged travel documents.
Kwon allegedly established contact with Spajić in a letter he addressed to many Montenegrin authorities in the days leading up to the most recent round of elections in the nation, according to a report from a Radio Free Europe regional branch on June 17.
Although Spajić denied having any contact with Kwon, numerous Montenegrin news organizations extensively covered their alleged financial relationships.
Local authorities arrested Kwon and Chong-Joon on March 23 after being accused of falsifying passports that were used in an attempt to leave Montenegro on a private flight to Dubai.
The initial bail ruling of 400,000 euros ($436,000) approved by the court was overturned on appeal on May 24. On June 5, this appeal was rejected, and Kwon and Chong-joon were given bail.
