Do Kwon’s criminal trial set for 2026 as lawyers face ‘huge’ trove of evidence

NEW YORK, NY – Terraform Labs co-founder and former CEO Do Kwon’s criminal fraud trial in the US has been tentatively scheduled for next January, allowing prosecutors and Kwon’s defense lawyers enough time to review the expected “massive” six-terabyte trove of data. that will occur during the discovery process.

During an initial hearing in Manhattan on Wednesday, lead prosecutor Jared Lenow told the court that the government expected to face additional delays due to challenges in accessing encrypted information and unlocking four cellphones provided by Montenegrin authorities when they extradited Kwon to the U.S. .USA on December 31. . Lenow added that the government should also translate the material taken from Kwon’s native Korean.

“Looks like we’re going to endorse a U-Haul in the Southern District,” District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) joked on Wednesday.

Engelmayer said scheduling a trial’s start date for more than a year from the initial conference was unprecedented in his career as a judge. He told Kwon’s lead attorney, Michael Ferrara of Hecker Fink LLP, to ask his client, currently held without bail at a local correctional facility after spending 22 months in custody in Montenegro, if he would prefer to have an earlier trial. Engelmayer gave the defense one week to request an earlier date in 2025.

Last week, Kwon pleaded not guilty to a nine-count indictment charging him with securities fraud, wire fraud, commodity fraud and money laundering conspiracy stemming from the $40 billion implosion of the Terra/LUNA ecosystem. in 2022.

Kwon and his company were charged with civil fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2023 and were subsequently found guilty by a New York jury. Together, they were ordered to pay $4.5 million in fines and restitution, with Kwon himself contributing $200 million. Terraform Labs has since filed for bankruptcy.

The next status conference is scheduled for March 6 at 11 a.m. ET.



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