A man has been sentenced to 15 years behind bars over ‘generational fraud’ of a whopping $40 billion.
This comes after two cryptocurrencies lost billions of dollars back in 2022 and the entrepreneur behind them was brought to trial.
Facing US District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, Do Kwon, who is a South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur, was described as having conducted an ‘epic fraud’.
During the hearing held in Manhattan federal court, the judge went on to say: “This was a fraud on an epic, generational scale. In the history of federal prosecutions, there are few frauds that have caused as much harm as you have, Mr Kwon.”
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The 34-year-old businessman had co-founded Terraform Labs as well as going on to develop TerraUSD and Luna currencies.
Earlier this year, Kwon pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud.
At the time, Kwon said: “I made false and misleading statements about why it regained its peg by failing to disclose a trading firm’s role in restoring that peg. What I did was wrong.”
Now, the businessman has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for his crimes.
Addressing the court to speak about the victims of the fraud, Kwon said: “All of their stories were harrowing and reminded me again of the great losses that I’ve caused. I want to tell these victims that I am sorry.”
One victim shared his own experience, saying: “My savings, my future, and the results of years of sacrifice disappeared. I struggled to keep up with payments and responsibilities, and everything I had worked for was erased.”
In a statement, US Attorney Jay Clayton said: “Do Kwon devised elaborate schemes to mislead investors and inflate the value of Terraform’s cryptocurrencies for his own benefit.
He went on to say: “When his crimes caught up to him, Kwon embarked on a deceptive public relations campaign to cover up his fraud, laundered the proceeds of his illegal schemes, and sought to purchase political protection in foreign countries to evade criminal prosecution. Let there be no mistake, fraud is fraud whether it takes place on our streets, in our securities markets, or in our emerging and important digital asset ecosystem, and no matter where in the world criminals may seek refuge, the women and men of the Southern District of New York will relentlessly pursue justice for investors and protect the integrity of financial markets.”