Do Kwon says SEC’s extradition request is impossible
Lawyers for Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon have requested a federal court to reject the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) request to question him in the U.S. over the collapse of the Terra Money ecosystem.
In a Sept. 27 filing, Kwon’s legal team said that the SEC’s request to question him in the United States before Oct. 13 was “impossible” due to being detained in Montenegro with “no scheduled release or extradition date.”
Additionally, Kwon’s team said that providing a written testimony to answer the SEC’s questions would be inconsistent with his right to due process under U.S. law.
“An order mandating something that is impossible serves no practical purpose and risks undermining judicial authority.”
Notably, Kwon’s lawyers claimed that Kwon did not directly oppose a deposition, however noted that it would need to take place in Montenegro, where the UST stablecoin creator is currently out on bail.
According to the filing, the cut off date for discovery in the SEC’s case against Kwon and Terraform Labs is Oct. 13.
Kwon’s legal team added that a Montenegrin court “informally” indicated that it may yet hold a hearing on Oct. 13 or Oct. 26, in which it would ask Kwon the SEC’s questions. However, the SEC noted that it may deem this process to be “inadequate” and pursue another deposition of Kwon after the discovery cut-off date.
Related: SEC seeks to question Terraform Labs co-founder Daniel Shin in Korea
The SEC sued Terraform Labs and Kwon on Feb. 16 for allegedly “orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud.”
Today we charged Singapore-based Terraform Labs PTE Ltd and Do Hyeong Kwon with orchestrating a multi-billion-dollar crypto asset securities fraud involving an algorithmic stablecoin and other crypto asset securities.
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) February 16, 2023
In the lawsuit, the SEC said that Terraform and Kwon “touted and marketed” its Anchor Protocol, which at one point was advertised to pay out 20% interest on USTC deposits. It also alleged Terraform and Kwon misled investors about the stability of Terra’s stablecoin.
Kwon and Terraform Labs’ chief financial officer Han Chang-Joon were arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 after allegedly using false travel documents when trying to leave the country. The two had their original passports confiscated in South Korea in October 2022.
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Politics
MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn
An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.
Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.
She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.
Politics latest: Zarah Sultana’s stinging resignation letter
Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.
She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.
Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.
However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.
Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.
The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.
Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.
In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.
Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.
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Protesters block Israeli arms manufacturer in Bristol
On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.
She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.
Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.
She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.
Ms Sultana called Nigel Farage a ‘billionaire-backed grifter’. Pic: PA
The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.
“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.
“We are not going to take this anymore.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.
“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”
Roman Storm is scheduled to appear in a New York courtroom for his criminal trial on July 14, facing money laundering and conspiracy charges.
The Wyoming Senator seeks to end double taxation and add clarity to the tax treatment of crypto staking, mining, and lending transactions.
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