Do Kwon earned nearly 70 million won from criminal activities, South Korean prosecutors: Unable to recover a single penny, much of it converted to Bitcoin and transferred overseas.

Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon was arrested last week in Montenegro after 10 months on the run. South Korean prosecutors are currently conducting asset freeze procedures against Do Kwon and the employees, with an estimated total amount of about $315 million in alleged crimes. However, it appears that Do Kwon had already converted the assets into Bitcoin and transferred them overseas, making it impossible to recover any illegal assets at present.

Do Kwon and Terraform Labs Employees' Criminal Proceeds Estimated at Approximately $315 Million

According to a report by South Korean media KBS reported, South Korean prosecutors are investigating the massive profits earned by Do Kwon and senior executives of Terraform Labs through the Terra blockchain ecosystem. Prosecutors estimate the total amount of criminal proceeds to be around 414.5 billion South Korean won, approximately $315 million. Of this, Do Kwon's personal total criminal proceeds amount to 91.4 billion South Korean won, approximately $70 million, accounting for 22% of the total.

To recover the criminal proceeds, asset freezing procedures are currently underway. South Korean prosecutors have seized assets such as houses, land, and vehicles belonging to the individuals involved in the case to prevent them from being sold during the trial.

Unable to Recover Illegal Gains of Do Kwon

However, the report indicates that the assets that can be confiscated from Do Kwon amount to 0 South Korean won, as Do Kwon has almost no assets in South Korea. Following the incident, Do Kwon appears to have converted most of his assets into Bitcoin and transferred them to overseas cryptocurrency exchanges.

To counter this situation, South Korean prosecutors have requested Binance to prevent Do Kwon from withdrawing any cryptocurrency.

Lengthy and Complicated Process for Do Kwon's Extradition, Difficult to Recover Illegal Proceeds in the Near Future

According to previous reports, following the exposure of Do Kwon's arrest in Montenegro, many countries have reportedly issued extradition requests to Montenegro. However, extraditing Do Kwon to any country may take at least a year, as he is currently facing criminal charges of forging documents. The trial process is estimated to take about 4-5 months, and the crime of forgery could result in a prison sentence of 6 months to 5 years for Do Kwon.

Therefore, if South Korea wishes to recover Do Kwon's criminal proceeds, they must first successfully extradite him back to South Korea for further questioning, but the process is expected to be lengthy and complicated.