First Hearing for Terraform Labs Co-founder Held on July 10

Daniel Shin is on trial for several financial crimes related to the collapse of UST, including outright fraud.

According to local Korean media, the first trial in the court case brought by the authorities against Shin Hyun-Seong – known internationally as Daniel Shin – is now in full swing, with the first hearing due today – July 10.

Several Accusations at Stake
Following a discovery hearing held in March, Shin was accused of several infractions. Chief among these is the violation of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, and the Capital Markets Act.

Shin was also accused of conducting illegal sales of LUNA tokens, which he had not declared possession of. That sale reportedly brought in about $106 million, funds that Korean authorities have since confiscated.

Responding to the allegations, Shin told the court that he had no involvement whatsoever with the collapse of Terraform Labs, having ended his engagement with the company in 2020.

“I left (Terraform Labs) two years prior to the collapse of Terra and Luna and have nothing to do with the collapse.”

Lawyers Request More Time to Prepare Their Defense
At the hearing today, lawyers for Daniel Shin requested more time to prepare for the trial, citing technological considerations that could not be neglected.

According to Shin’s legal team, the case files consist of 48 volumes, rife with technological lingo and other terms that require an IT expert and other consultants to weigh in before the legal team can accurately represent Shin’s interests in court.

The judge agreed to extend the discovery period of the case, locking in the 28th of August as the date of the next hearing.

“We have taken into consideration the opinions of the lawyers and will reopen the trial preparation date to allow a fair opportunity for both the defense and the prosecutors.”

Shin Himself was reportedly not present at the trial, nor was he obliged to be, according to the terms of his lawsuit.

Prosecutors had earlier requested that Daniel Shin be arrested. This motion was denied by the court, which decided that there was little to no risk of Shin fleeing the country or going AWOL in another manner, unlike Do Kwon, who is currently serving time in jail in Montenegro due to a passport which he claimed not to know was fake.

After his short four-month sentence is up, Do Kwon will likely be extradited to either South Korea or the USA to face charges.