Terraform Labs co-founder Shin Hyun-seung and seven of his associates are set to face trial in South Korea on May 26 for their alleged involvement in the US$40 billion collapse of the Terra-Luna stablecoin and crypto project in May 2022.
Shin, a 38-year-old businessman and University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School graduate, has assembled a team of 30 lawyers for his defense, including eleven lawyers from a law firm that recently hired a former Seoul prosecutor that investigated the Terra-Luna collapse.
Local prosecutors indicted Shin and nine others on April 25, although none were arrested. Shin and the seven Terraform employees were indicted for fraud, while two other individuals face charges of bribery related to the case, but no court date has been set.
Shin established Terraform Labs in 2018 with Kwon Do-hyeong, who is currently under arrest in Montenegro for allegedly traveling on forged travel documents.
Prosecutors accuse Shin of defrauding investors by promoting the Terra stablecoin as a potential payment measure while knowing such services were prohibited.
However, Shin’s lawyers deny the accusations, stating that financial authorities did not have a fixed position on the issue of crypto as a potential payment means at the time of Terra’s launch.
Shin comes from a well-connected family that includes his grandfather Shin Jik-soo, former minister of justice of Korea, and uncle Hong Seok-hyun, chairman of one of the country’s largest media groups, JoongAng Holdings.
