The FBI and authorities in the Southern District of New York have questioned former members of the Terraform Labs (TFL) team as part of the U.S. Justice Department's investigation into the TerraUSD steblycoin crash. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing sources.
According to them, the DOJ investigation covers the same areas as the SEC lawsuit filed against the company and its management in February.
Specifically, the investigators were interested in the connection between South Korea's Chai payment company and TFL's blockchain. The SEC alleges that TFL CEO Do Kwon misled the public about Chai's transaction processing through their network, when in fact the service was using "more traditional technology."
U.S. prosecutors are also examining correspondence between trading firms, including Jump Trading Group, Alameda Research and Jane Street Group, about the TerraUSD bailout, Bloomberg News reported.
So far, the SEC has filed civil charges against TFL and Do Kwon for organizing a multi-billion dollar securities fraud. If the charges are filed by the U.S. Justice Department, they would be criminal and could lead to imprisonment.
Recall that in early March, the Singapore police also began investigating the company.
In December 2022, the media reported, citing South Korean prosecutors, that Kwon was hiding in Serbia. Representatives of the Ministry of Justice and the oversight agency later clarified that the allegations were "not false.
The TFL head himself said he was not "on the run" and was cooperating with law enforcement officials. In September, Bloomberg reported that Interpol had issued a "red notice" of his detention.
