Terra Case Witness Faces 8 years for $70M Fraud

According to the local South Korean News Outlet, Korea Economic Daily, Kim Seo-Joon, a key witness called to testify in the Terra parliamentary inquiry, did not show up citing reasons of “extreme stress.” Seo-Joon is the CEO of venture capital firm, Hashed and an early Terra (LUNC, previously LUNA) investor. Seo-Joon cited reasons for “extreme stress” for not being able to attend the inquiry.

As per the news report, Seo-Joon is one of six people shortlisted to participate in the South Korean parliament inquiry into the Terra collapse. The South Korean government is trying to better understand the events that led to the $40 billion wipeout of the LUNA and UST currencies.

Seo-Joon sent a letter to the national assembly to explain his absence. He said that following the abrupt demise of LUNC (previously LUNA) and the de-pegging of its linked algorithmic stablecoin TerraClassicUSD (USTC), he experienced a serious mental breakdown. He stated,

“I have been suffering from anxiety disorder and panic disorder due to extreme mental stress.”

Along with his letter, Seo-Joon also provided a professional assessment and a medical certificate attesting to the fact that he had been hospitalized since July 29 and was receiving treatment from a psychiatrist. According to the professional judgment, Seo-Joon is “in absolute need of emotional stability at this time,” and both medication and counseling treatment was stated to have made his anxiety worse.

According to an August interview with Bloomberg, Seo-Joon said that Hashed had lost $3.6 billion from its peak value in late April. The firm possessed 30 million LUNC (then known as LUNA) tokens.

What about the other witnesses in the Terra inquiry?

Seo-Joon is not the first witness to not show up for the inquiry. The chairman of the South Korean exchange Bithumb, Lee Jung-hoon, also skipped the parliamentary session on October 6th. Jung-hoon claimed that a panic disorder did not permit him to attend the inquiry. If that was not all, Jung-hoon is currently facing up to 8 years in prison in regard to a $70 million fraud.

Kang Jong-hyun, a major shareholder in Bithumb, CEO of Dunamu, the company that runs UpBit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Lee Seok-woo, Chai Holdco Director Shin Hyun-sung, and Terraform Labs Co-Founder Daniel Shin are other witnesses who have testified at various stages of the Terra investigation.

Terra chief, Do Kwon, is not listed to be questioned by the assembly. Nonetheless, global authorities continue to trace the now infamous founder.