Interpol has issued a red notice for the founder of a South Korean cryptocurrency accused of fraud over the company’s $40 billion liquidation, prosecutors said Monday.
Earlier this month, a South Korean court issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon, 31, who left South Korea for Singapore before the crash in May.
But questions about his whereabouts intensified after the Singapore Police Force said he was not in the country.
South Korean prosecutors requested Interpol put him on a red notice list and asked the foreign ministry in Seoul to cancel his passport, saying Kwon was “on the run”.
“Interpol has issued a red notice for Kwon,” an official at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office told AFP without giving further details.
On Twitter, Cowan denied that he was on the run but did not reveal his whereabouts.
Prosecutors have also issued arrest warrants for five other people – who have not been named – linked to the stablecoin TerraUSD and its sister token Luna.
Kwon’s Terra/Luna system disintegrated in May, the value of both tokens plummeted to near zero, and the broader crypto market had a knock-on effect.
According to industry data, the collapse cost global crypto markets more than $500 billion.
Stablecoins are designed to have a relatively fixed value and are usually tied to a real-world commodity or currency.
The TerraUSD algorithm was, however, using code to maintain its price at approximately one US dollar.
Many investors lost their life savings when Luna and Terra entered the death spiral, and South Korean authorities have launched multiple criminal investigations into the crash.
