S.Korea prosecutors raid crypto exchanges as part of Terra-LUNA investigation

South Korean prosecutors raided 15 companies, including seven cryptocurrency exchanges, on Wednesday as part of their investigation into the Terra-LUNA debacle.

Fast facts

• “[The search and seizure] is to secure any physical evidence needed to prove the allegations,” Choi Sung-kook, prosecutor in the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office, told Forkast without elaborating. 

• The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office has been investigating the Terra-LUNA crash after investors of the collapsed stablecoin and sister token filed a complaint against Terraform Labs chief Do Kwon and cofounder Shin Hyun-seung on charges of fraud.

• Companies searched included South Korea’s leading crypto exchanges Upbit and Bithumb. 

• Prosecutors also raided Dunamu & Partners, the investment arm of Dunamu, which operates Upbit exchange, according to local media reports.

• In April 2018, Dunamu & Partners purchased 20 million LUNC, then LUNA, for US$0.12 per token. The company swapped its LUNA holdings into 2081.85 Bitcoins which it claims to have not been liquidated due to local regulations. 
• As part of the investigation, South Korean prosecutors last month executed a search and seizure on the National Tax Service (NTS) to examine allegations of tax evasion by Kwon.