The US business daily The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI and representatives of the Southern District of New York questioned former employees of Terraform Labs (TFL) as part of an investigation conducted by the US Department of Justice in connection with the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin.The paper's sources said this investigation concerns the same issues as the SEC's lawsuit filed against TFL and its management in February.
In particular, investigators are looking into links between South Korean payment provider Chai and blockchain network TFL. The SEC alleges that Do Kwon, the chief executive of TFL, misled people about Chai's transaction processing through their system, when in fact it was using "more traditional technology". Furthermore, the US attorney's office checks email correspondence. Prosecutors are looking into emails between trading companies such as Jump Trading Group, Alameda Research and Jane Street Group regarding the TerraUSD rescue, according to Bloomberg news.
At the moment, the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against TFL and Mr Kwon for committing a multi-billion dollar securities scam. If criminal charges are brought by the US Department of Justice, this could lead to imprisonment.
Notably, back in March this year, the Singapore police also launched an investigation into the company.
Last December, South Korean prosecutors said Kwon was in hiding in Serbia; the Ministry of Justice and the monitoring organisation confirmed this information was true. Moreover, Do Kwon himself has stated that he is not "avoiding" anyone, but is cooperating with law enforcement officials. According to a Bloomberg report published in September, Interpol issued a warrant for his arrest.
