South Korea issues arrest warrant for Terra founder Do Kwon following the collapse LUNA cryptocurrency

Just four months after the LUNA cryptocurrency crashed to $0, a South Korean court has issued an arrest warrant for Terraform founder and the primary developer of cryptocurrencies Luna and TerraUS Do Kwon, Reuters reported, citing a spokesperson for the prosecutors.

“An arrest warrant has been issued for a total of six people, including Do Kwon, who are currently residing in Singapore,” a spokesperson for prosecutors told Reuters on Wednesday without elaborating on the reason.

The arrest order comes after several months of investigation and amid public outrage in South Korea over the collapse. Around the world, crypto investors in the two Luna coins have lost an estimated $42 billion, according to an analysis from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.

In May, the sudden collapse of Luna and TerraUSD roiled crypto markets around the world. Terra Luna, the cryptocurrency associated with TerraUSD (UST), suddenly collapsed overnight losing 99% of its value as crypto investors lost their life savings.

Kwon, who is also the founder of blockchain platform Terraform Labs, has been accused of fraud by crypto investors in the wake of the collapse.

Terra, which ranked among the top 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies, dropped from its $120 peak last month to below $1 on May 13.  Terra’s luna UST is a controversial stablecoin designed to support UST’s one-to-one peg with the U.S. dollar. The implosion of the Terra platform led to combined losses of approximately $60 billion between UST and its sister cryptocurrency luna.

According to a report from CryptoSlate, Do Kwon is hiding from public eyes after an unknown person knocked on his front door asking for him. Kwon quickly fled the scene and local police have now opened an investigation. Another post on Twitter confirmed the report saying that Kwon’s spouse has now requested police protection.