Lawyers representing the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and Terraform Labs and co-founder Do Kwon sparred in court over information provided by a whistleblower in the securities lawsuit.
According to a transcript of court events provided by Inner City Press on Nov. 30, the SEC reiterated its claims that Terra and Kwon “committed fraud” using the LUNA token, citing sealed evidence provided by an unnamed whistleblower. Kwon’s and Terra’s legal team reportedly argued the SEC was “flip-flopping” on the issue of TerraUSD (UST) depegging from the U.S. dollar.
“The SEC has misrepresented Do Kwon’s statements,” said Kwon’s and Terra’s lawyer, according to the report. “The whistleblower whose name we are not supposed to say, he withheld some of his recordings.”
OK – now at SEC v Terraform Labs & Do Kwon, Inner City Press will live tweet, thread below https://t.co/zRKCGlc0T4
The arguments came in a hearing of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in which Judge Jed Rakoff suggested that none of the filings made under seal would remain confidential should the case go to trial. On Nov. 28, the judge approved the confidential treatment of certain materials filed by Jump Crypto, the firm under scrutiny for its alleged involvement in the events leading to the depegging of UST.
Kwon, who was arrested by authorities in Montenegro in March for using falsified travel documents, could face extradition to either the U.S. or South Korea following a court approval of the proceedings. In addition to the SEC civil case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Kwon with eight criminal counts related to fraud at Terraform Labs.
Should Judge Rakoff deny motions for summary judgment, the SEC case against Terra and Kwon will reportedly start in January 2024. Sentencing for convicted former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is scheduled for March 2024, and the trial of former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky is expected in September 2024 in the same district.
The Home Office has confirmed that hundreds of migrants will be moved to military sites as the government tries to stop the use of asylum hotels.
About 900 men will be temporarily based at Cameron Barracks in Inverness, and Crowborough Training Camp in East Sussex.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are furious at the level of illegal migrants and asylum hotels. This government will close every asylum hotel.
“Work is well under way, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities and cut asylum costs.”
Industrial sites, temporary facilities and disused accommodation are also being considered as officials step up work to find alternatives.
The plans – first mooted by the defence secretary last month – have been confirmed ahead of the expected deportation of an asylum seeker who was accidentally released while serving a sentence for sexual offences.
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Justice Secretary David Lammy has confirmed there will be an independent investigation into what happened and said “human error” was to blame for the incident.
Pressure on jail staff ‘intolerable’
But the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) has warned it will “not accept any scapegoating of staff” – and claims it has highlighted “a severe lack of training” for at least a decade.
Mark Fairhurst, the union’s national chair, said: “The pressure on staff is intolerable, and this will inevitably lead to mistakes.
“These issues should have been addressed a long time ago, but as usual, our employer waits for a headline and then acts.”
The POA has warned this could happen again in the future because prisons are understaffed and overcrowded.
One member of staff at HMP Chelmsford has been suspended pending an investigation, with some MPs calling for the prison’s governor to step down if they are found at fault.
Kebatu was found guilty in September of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping – about a week after he arrived in the UK on a small boat.
He had been staying at The Bell Hotel, which was being used to accommodate asylum seekers, and the case sparked weeks of protests over the summer.
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Father of Kebatu victim: ‘I am broken’
‘Urgent review’ ordered
In the Commons yesterday, Mr Lammy said he was “livid” on behalf of Kebatu’s victims – and vowed he would be deported back to Ethiopia “as quickly as possible”.
He dismissed Conservative MPs who asked whether he would resign over the issue, describing this as a “ridiculous question”.
The deputy prime minister added he has ordered an “urgent review” into the checks that take place when an offender is freed, and new safeguards have been added.
But with a prison service source telling Sky’s Mollie Malone that these checks could take staff an extra 30 to 40 minutes, former governor Pia Sinha has warned: “The solution is not adding more administrative burden.”
Data shows 262 prisoners in England and Wales were released in error in the 12 months to March 2025 – a 128% increase on the previous year.
US Representative Ro Khanna is looking to introduce a bill to restrict all elected officials from trading stocks and crypto, citing conflicts of interest.