The Terra fiasco seems to find itself in murkier waters as fresh allegations arise against founder Do Kwon.
FatManTerra, a Twitter user who provides updates and analysis on the Terra situation, has shared new information that allegedly ties Kwon to a blockchain consultancy firm, which local South Korean news outlet, KBS, has not named, instead of calling it “Company K”. Many think that Company K is none other than Kernel Labs, a sister company of TerraLabs. Company K is being utilized as a Terra shell company, according to a Terra developer.
As per the local news outlet, KBS,
“National Tax Service was caught by the fact that last year, Terra received a virtual currency worth about 6 billion won from Terra.”
Terraform Labs’ sibling firm, Kernel Labs, allegedly collected 6 billion won ($4.8 million) from Terraform Labs, according to the newest charges. While this might be an entirely benign consulting service transaction, Kwon‘s subsequent steps to disassociate himself from Kernel Labs make the transaction questionable. Patents submitted by Kernel Labs have been used to link Do Kwon to the firm. It’s possible that KBS was seeking to leak the identity without revealing it explicitly.
A reference to “TFL/Kernel Labs” was included in a section that listed roles and duties for the new Luna blockchain, but that reference has since been removed.
Below are the images of the original and revised proposals.
According to KBS, Terra and Kernel Labs appeared to be the same firm to locals, with employees in a nearby workplace saying they looked the same as Terra. KBS also stated that they sought to communicate with numerous Terraform Labs employees personally, but only got the answer,
“Only a small number of people, including CEO Kwon Do-hyung, know the true nature of Terra and Luna.”
Last year, Do Kwon was punished for tax evasion and forced to pay a total of 100 billion won ($80 million) in taxes. The sum is projected to climb over time, as bitcoin in South Korea is only taxed on realized gains. According to the fresh charges, this isn’t the only offense for which he’s being probed.