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Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon (YouTube Screencap) |
Terraform Labs, the Singapore-based company behind the troubled coins terraUSD and luna, had shut down its South Korean branch last year to allegedly evade paying taxes, local news reports showed Monday. Reports also found that the company technically dissolved its South Korean branch months before the shutdown was officially announced.
Despite recent court documents showing the blockchain company’s decision to officially shut down its Korean branch through a shareholders meeting held April 30, its business had been inactive since late last year, according to local reports, citing an unnamed industry source.
The report fueled speculation that Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon closed the branch to avoid paying taxes he owes to the Korean government, worth a reported total of 100 billion won ($80.1 million). Earlier this month, local news reports claimed that the National Tax Service — the Korean equivalent of the US’ Internal Revenue Service — imposed a fine worth some 50 billion won on Kwon and others at Terraform Labs after running an investigation on allegations of tax evasion in June last year.
Kwon refuted the claims through a tweet on May 21, saying that the “Korean (government) needed money to shore up COVID spending, creatively charged millions from crypto companies, and we paid our share in full.”
Local reports also said that a separate unnamed source, who was a ranking official at Terraform Labs, denied…
