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Do Kwon arrested in Montenegro: Interior Minister
- Apocryphon 4y agoBetween this and the Justin Sun news yesterday is this some kind of crypto crackdown?
- arcticbull 4y agoJustin Sun and Do Kwon are [edit for clarity: among] the worst of the space, so IMO, this represents a crackdown on scammers not on the ecosystem. Everyone should like this, even me :)
- wslh 4y agoAs someone working in the space since 2014, there is a much longer list. DYOR.
- arcticbull 4y agolol, trust me, I've been following very closely too since about 2017. I think these folks are S tier. Not that there's not a ton more. It's hard to point to someone who did more damage to the space than Kwon in terms of sheer notional value and confidence destruction. I mostly follow this space for the drama and crime so I'm pretty up to date on the, er, personalities involved.
- soulofmischief 4y agoIt's great you've taken an interest, but crypto has been around for much longer than 2017 and the lunacy traces back way further.
- arcticbull 4y agoOf course, I've dug through the history. There's some really good stuff in the early days, the pirateat40 / Trendon Shavers scam is a classic. I wasn't there for it, of course, before my time. Learning about the history of the space is super fun though, especially when it has the collective memory of a goldfish :)
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> especially when it has the collective memory of a goldfish Any book or podcast recommendations for a long-view historical surmisement?
- arcticbull 4y agoThere's always Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain :)
- wslh 4y agoBased on public information only, SBF could be perfectly added to your tier.
- onlyrealcuzzo 4y agoProbably starting with everyone involved in Tether and BitFinex...
- polygamous_bat 4y ago> Justin Sun and Do Kwon are the worst of the space... Among the worst, I would say; the other three top spots go to Sam Bankman Fried of FTX, Changpeng Zhao of Binance, and whatever specter is running Tether.
- whimsicalism 4y agoe: misremembered details
- fastball 4y agoI thought Tether was associated with Bitfinex, not Binance.
- whimsicalism 4y agoabsolutely, mental slip up
- fdasiljvalkj 4y agoI get SBF, that's easy. And Tether. But why is Changpeng Zhao a bad actor? Legitimate question, not trying to be a crypto apolegist)
- arcticbull 4y agoStart with the Tai Chi documents. [1] They've been kicked out of half the major jurisdictions in the world. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/10/29/leaked-tai-chi-document-reveals-binances-elaborate-scheme-to-evade-bitcoin-regulators https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/10/29/l...
- paulpauper 4y agoMichael Saylor , Cathie Wood, Balaji, and Chamath, should also be included. The people with huge platforms who promote crypto are as culpable as the exchanges that sell it.
- web3-is-a-scam 4y agoCoinbase, a publically traded exchange, was also served a Wells Notice. This is a crackdown on the system. I would put money that as soon as they can figure out where the hell CZ is, that Binance is next in line.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- hammock 4y agoYes. Add to your list the seizure of Signature Bank, and this week’s rumors of Operation Choke Point 2.0 focused on keeping commercial banks out of crypto
- calgarymicro 4y agoBoggles the mind that people are actually taking people like Nic Carter and Barney Frank at face value (that latter one is particularly egregious considering he's literally a former director of the bank) when they say that the FDIC seized a bank with $110 billion in holdings solely to target $4 billion in crypto. Believe it or not, the Fed doesn't care enough about crypto to start a regional banking crisis and blow up hundreds of billions of dollars.
- SamReidHughes 4y agoIt was shut down by New York, not the FDIC.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- calgarymicro 4y agoEven better; New York State absolutely has no reason to set off a regional banking crisis and shut down a bank with $110 billion in deposits over $4 billion in crypto.
- codehalo 4y agoThe dinosaurs at the FED feel just the same as all those on this site that blather on bitterly about crypto waiting for it die. I can’t wait to read the salty howling at end of the year when crypto is at an all time high.
- eric_cc 4y agoYou’re correct that this community will be salty as bitcoin reaches value milestones such as $100,000/coin. And it’s easy to fall into the trap of laughing at their misery. But it would be much much more enjoyable for me to see bitcoin “click” for them. It takes the effort of thinking deeply about what money is, where it came from, how it’s used geo-politically, how it’s used against populations, etc. it’s a lot of effort, honestly. But let’s not cheer on bitcoin’s USD value. The real victory is when it’s detached and we stop comparing bitcoin to garbage fiat.
- ac29 4y agoHe was arrested using a fake passport (or some other falsified document) in an airport. Sounds like the timing was just coincidental.
- nashashmi 4y agoAnd he may have been desperately on the run after the crackdown on everyone else
- 1270018080 4y agoMore of a financial fraud crackdown
- web3-is-a-scam 4y agosame thing
- paulpauper 4y agoJustin Sun is a free man, and its possible he will remain free if he complies (pays a big fine). SEC charging someone with fraud is not the same as the feds indicting him.
- throwaway290 4y agoHe's wanted in Korea though. edit: the other guy. got lost in the thread I guess
- 55555 4y agoNo, that's Do Kwon. Justin Sun is possibly wanted in China, though? I'm not sure.
- throw1234651234 4y agoThere is a crackdown on Coinbase today too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35267692 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35267692
- MountainHoliday 4y agoNo they are just criminals. And police target criminals
- adamnemecek 4y agoShould have gone to Transnistria.
- janmo 4y agoHe was arrested at the airport, it is unclear if he was trying to enter or leave Montenegro. I can imagine he was trying to go somewhere else.
- input_sh 4y agoIt's not exactly a big airport, not a lot of flights: https://montenegroairports.com/en/podgorica-airport/ https://montenegroairports.com/en/podgorica-airport/ His last known whereabouts were in Serbia, and Belgrade - Podgorica have about five flights per day both ways.
- janmo 4y agoIf he flew from Serbia to Montenegro it would have just been completely dumb, crossing the land border would have been much safer for him. I suspect he was trying to leave for somewhere very far away but his Passport did not fool the airport staff
- notch898a 4y agoThe question is why he wouldn't cross the land border and then fly from there. Customs is rarely checking passports as thoroughly on the way out as on the way in. The thinking was probably the risk was the same since he was entering the airport anyway, but failed to account for risk of having passport checked in then out instead of just out.
- Scoundreller 4y agoOnly thing about a land border between Serbia and Montenegro is that they might get even more suspicious than an airport about WhyTF a random Korean is there.
- popol12 4y ago[flagged]
- danrocks 4y agoHe's been charged in so many places that I am curious to know where he'll be deported to.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> curious to know where he'll be deported to It looks like Montenegro can extradite to Korea [1][2]. [1] https://www.coe.int/en/web/transnational-criminal-justice-pcoc/extradition-country-information# https://www.coe.int/en/web/transnational-criminal-justice-pc... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Convention_on_Extradition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Convention_on_Extradi...
- danrocks 4y agoI'm sure Singapore and the US would like to have a word as well.
- xwdv 4y agoOf course he’d be in Montenegro, a place with so much corruption it’s practically out in the open. Rot in Prison, Do Kwon.
- JumpCrisscross 4y agoKwon was arrested by Montenegrin police.
- brookst 4y ago"Death Valley can't be a desert because it rained there today"
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> "Death Valley can't be a desert because it rained there today" Not arguing for or against Montenegrin corruption. Just saying that this incident doesn't contribute to the corruption theory.
- hammock 4y agoWas parent comment really suggesting that this incident (Do Kwon’s arrest) contributes to the corruption theory? I read it as suggesting that Do Kwon’s decision to take up residence there contributed to the corruption theory
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> I read it as suggesting that Do Kwon’s decision to take up residence there contributed to the corruption theory "A place with so much corruption" reads to me as a statement of fact, not perception. (Montenegro clocks in between China and Jamaica on the latter [1].) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index
- 4y ago
- latchkey 4y agoAmazing that it took this long to find and arrest him.
- janmo 4y agoRuja Ignatova is also suspected of hiding in Montenegro, she is behind the OneCoin ponzi scheme and has successfully been on the run for 5 years now. It appears that Do Kwon did a very rookie mistake by believing he could take a plane at the airport like every one else.
- hiidrew 4y agosaw this from a couple of days ago - https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/bulgarian-woman-charged-role-multi-billion-dollar-cryptocurrency-pyramid-scheme-onecoin https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/bulgarian-woman-charged...
- dmix 4y agoWas she hiding too or were they just waiting, maybe hoping it could provide more information?
- dannyw 4y agoCharge is not arrest
- Jolter 4y agoBut extradited is arrest.
- dredmorbius 4y agoDifferent individual, as I've been corrected earlier.
- dredmorbius 4y agoFrom the DOJ link above, first paragraph: DILKINSKA was extradited from Bulgaria yesterday and will be presented before United States Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn later today. <https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/bulgarian-woman-charged-role-multi-billion-dollar-cryptocurrency-pyramid-scheme-onecoin https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/bulgarian-woman-charged...> She is in US custody.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- b0sk 4y agoIt's time to remind everyone that "Have fun staying poor" was one of Do Kwon's favorite putdowns.
- janmo 4y agoI will remember the "I am not on the run" -> Shows up at the airport with a fake passport
- henry2023 4y agoThis is gold
- arbuge 4y agoWorth a lot more than the worthless coins he was hawking then.
- giraffe_lady 4y agoMy "not on the run" t-shirt has a lot of people asked questions already answered by my shirt.
- smcl 4y agoContext for those who might have missed out on a golden era of Twitter: https://twitter.com/shutupmikeginn/status/403359911481839617 https://twitter.com/shutupmikeginn/status/403359911481839617
- grumple 4y agoI saw Terraform and thought of the infra as code tool by Hashicorp. This Terraform Labs is unrelated, they ran another major cryptocurrency scam.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- m3kw9 4y agoHe is probably better off getting caught and get his sentence over with than to live watching his back betting a country won’t turn him in for decades
- notch898a 4y agoHave you ever been in a jail cell? Almost every day in the US you see someone who decides to go out with guns blazing rather than go back.
- consumer451 4y agoThis sounds like Hollywood reality for white collar. Here is actual reality: > "Hey Do, I just want to let you know, jail is not that bad," Shkreli said. "So don't fret – I hope it doesn't happen. If it does happen ... it's not that bad." - Martin Shkreli https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/08/pharma-bro-martin-shkreli-to-lunas-do-kwon-jail-is-not-that-bad/ https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/08/pharma-bro-mart...
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y agoThe general rule of thumb, is that, if it's nonviolent, and less than ten years, it's Camp Cupcake (minimum security -no walls). If it's over a decade, or violent/escape risk, then it's Leavenworth. I've known folks that have done both.
- notch898a 4y agoThe lesson learned from Ross Ulbricht is that there's a good chance it's Leavenworth for non-violent internet crime. Edit: per usual folks come out of the woodwork to accuse Ross of murder-for-hire despite the fact he was not convicted of any murder related charge, only generic conspiracies for which the overt act could have been a number of options (such as drug distribution). The jury never specifically said the overt act they convicted the conspiracy was murder for hire, yet the judge sentenced him as if he were guilty of that.
- polygamous_bat 4y agoWill we see a stream of substack articles from him? Or will he keep his mouth shut, unlike the other visionary crypto genius billionaire?
- timcavel 4y ago[dead]
- ramesh31 4y agoIt's always greed and hubris that does these people in. Who in their right mind would get on an international flight with an Interpol arrest warrant? He could have disappeared off to the countryside and lived in obscurity, but no. He went to Montenegro.
- celim307 4y agoSame people who run these kind of scams are often narcissistic. They are “so smart” they got away with the first crime, they believe they have a magic touch and can get away with anything. Plus these are not the type of people who would enjoy being disconnected from high society, they need external validation.
- throwaway290 4y agoIf you had been to Montenegro, countryside and obscurity is not that far from truth...
- reducesuffering 4y agoGP must be confused with Monaco or Montevideo
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- ardit33 4y agoWrong country to hide. Montenegro is a Nato member, and a US ally, and will do whatever the US say. Dritan Abazovic (the prime minister) is himself half Albanian, half Montenegrin, and he is very pro western. You can't hide in pro US countries. He should have maybe taken a train to Serbia (not a US ally), then a plane to Russia and hide there. Ps. For some reason criminals think small countries are safe, but capturing criminals like this, that are most wanted by the US, is a huge political win for the small countries, (brownie points with the US) and they will do whatever it takes to get them. Best countries to hide are larger countries that are not fully US aligned (think Brazil), or US hostile (Russia, etc)
- janmo 4y agoSo far he isn't wanted in the US, but in South Korea
- pizzalife 4y agoI would not be surprised to see an indictment being unsealed within the next few days. You can bet most of these crypto criminals are under US indictment if they defrauded Americans. They're just sealed until they are arrested somewhere. For example, on Jan 7 the operator of "Bitzlato" flew to Miami. He was arrested and DOJ unsealed his indictment the following day.
- janmo 4y agoEDIT: now in the US too https://twitter.com/tier10k/status/1639020334920728578 https://twitter.com/tier10k/status/1639020334920728578
- zucked 4y agoIt's interesting to me that this is the current lay of the land. I've been to MNE many, many times and in my day it was a common belief that it was a favorite haunt for wealthy individuals who weren't able to get into the EU proper (and places like Monaco, Cannes, etc.)
- grujicd 4y agoThe main reason why you shouldn't hide in Montenegro is that everyone knows everyone. You can be found in 5 min if there's a political will. When Covid started, it was brought to Montenegro by a tourist group which went to Spain. Very soon everyone knew by name who was in that group. Even worse, when Covid spread a bit, government published names of all people who were in self-isolation. Highly unconstitutional, yet highly effective in a relativelly small comunity. With this and other strict measures Montenegro managed to be Covid free in summer 2020 - possibly the only country in Europe at a time. Of course, it quickly fell apart as soon as strict measures were lifted. So this is why you shouldn't hide in small countries. Only way to hide is to buy your stay there and I assume it can't be cheap if you're really wanted.
- steveBK123 4y agoCrypto bros can't even do non-extradition countries right.
- ezekiel68 4y agoWhat is this world coming to when Crypto renegades can no longer flee to Montenegro using falsified documents? This must somehow be seen as yet another nail in the coffin of Big centralized fiat currency. /s
- medo-bear 4y agoFun fact: Montenegro has the longest serving head of state in Europe, Mile Djukanovic, probably making even Lukashenko of Belorus jealous. But don't worry, despite widespread accusations and suspicions of corruption, nepotism, and even drug trafficking, he is our ally... and hence not a dictator
- gnarbarian 4y agofunny how that works.
- activitypea 4y agoIsn't Montenegro also the youngest country in Europe? Depending on if you count Kosovo, I suppose.
- dragonwriter 4y agoI mean, Montenegro is at best tied with Serbia, whether or not you count Kosovo.
- nsajko 4y agoThe answer is that Đukanović was in charge even back when Montenegro was a constituent Republic of Yugoslavia, see the timeline here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_%C4%90ukanovi%C4%87#Timeline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_%C4%90ukanovi%C4%87#Timel...
- SECProto 4y ago> despite widespread accusations and suspicions of corruption, nepotism, and even drug trafficking, he is our ally... and hence not a dictator Being a dictator means [1] to have absolute power. There are dictators that are friendly with the west and others that are not so much. Use of the term is orthogonal to whether or not a given country is an ally (other than that word choice can have ramifications) Montenegro is regarded by a number of rankings [2] as being a hybrid regime, i.e. somewhere in between authoritarian and democratic. The results of the 2020 election [3] match that. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictator [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_regime#Measurement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_regime#Measurement [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Montenegrin_parliamentary_election https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Montenegrin_parliamentary...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- CoBE10 4y agoDo those people think that Montenegro won't give them to US? I've seen a few mentions of Montenegro in some American TV shows and they always say "The X has escaped to Montenegro...", "Montenegro doesn't have extradition treaty with US...". That's not true, and it was never true. Montenegro just can't sue them in Montenegrin court, because of the treaty that Montenegro can sue American citizens in American courts.
- noloblo 4y agowas do kwon arrested in montenegro for the interpol/south korean red notice or the united states sec case?
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> arrested in montenegro for the interpol/south korean red notice or the united states sec case The SEC is a civil agency. It can't arrest people.
- GauntletWizard 4y agoNo, but it can file cases with the courts, and courts can issue arrest warrants for contempt and failure to appear for a summons.
- kjs3 4y ago"SEC investigations are civil, not criminal. The SEC can charge individuals and entities for violating the federal securities laws and seek remedies such as monetary penalties, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, injunctions, and restrictions on an individual’s ability to work in the securities industry or to serve as an officer or director of a public company, but the SEC cannot put people in jail. Enforcement may refer potential criminal cases to criminal law enforcement authorities for investigation or coordinate SEC investigations with criminal investigations involving the same conduct. If a person is convicted of a criminal violation of the securities laws, a court may sentence that person to serve time in jail." Source: https://www.sec.gov/oiea/investor-alerts-bulletins/ib_investigations https://www.sec.gov/oiea/investor-alerts-bulletins/ib_invest...
- xg15 4y agoMore like Don't Kwon now.
- steveBK123 4y agoWhat is the point of having a zillion magic internet moneys if you can't get yourself off the financial grid and living in a non-extradition country? Cmon. What a bunch of jokers. I think it's a hugely bearish case for crypto that none of the crypto guys have been able to use it to avoid authorities for more than a few weeks/months. That's literally one of its alleged use cases. "The government can't control it". SBF, Do Kwon, the Bitmex guys, how's that worked out for everyone?
- cuteboy19 4y agoThe safemoon guys are free, Logan Paul remains free, many smalltime pump and dumpers remain free. Though this is a product of lax enforcement rather than crypto itself
- steveBK123 4y agoYes its really just lax enforcement at this point. When it sporadically turns on, they net a bunch of these guys again, in waves. The US has a very expansive view of jurisdiction when it comes to financial dealings with Americans, dealings with American companies, dealings within the US, transacting in US dollars or US dollar derivatives. Crypto largely ends up triggering 1 or more of these. Nonetheless it does seem to be failing at its job of being immune from governments if you are still going to end up in jail / having to pay billon dollar settlements in "fiat" to avoid jail, etc.
- sacrosancty 4y ago[dead]
- TacticalCoder 4y ago> That's literally one of its alleged use cases. "The government can't control it". > > SBF, Do Kwon, the Bitmex guys, how's that worked out for everyone? Well the government still, so far, cannot make it so that there's more than 21 million Bitcoins. So in that sense they cannot control Bitcoin. Those you mentioned and the likes of Justin Sun (now charged for fraud), Mark Karpeles (from MtGox fame, who server prison time), the Quadriga guy, Crypsy, etc. have all one thing in common: they "exit scammed" / "rug pulled" / ponzi'ed and whatnots. The government collect taxes on realized gains honest people make selling cryptocurrencies they legally bought? The government send the likes of SBF to jail. As simple as that.