Judge dismisses Terra executive arrest warrant

By: Henry Felix

October 6, 2022 10:57 PM

Today, news broke that Terra's minister of general affairs had been arrested. Yoo Mo, the head of Terra's general affairs division, was reportedly detained by South Korean authorities. It was speculated that this was the first arrest related to the ongoing Terra investigation.

Executive Yoo, a trusted colleague of Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon, was served with a bench warrant on Wednesday by authorities in South Korea.

Among the many charges against Yoo are those of breaking the capital market act, fraud, and breach of duty. District prosecutor Choi Sung-kook confirmed the arrest but would not comment on the time or place of the arrest.

An arrest report for a Terra executive was thrown out by the judge just a few hours later

On Thursday morning, a "direct judgment of warrant" was scheduled to be issued against Yoo by the Seoul Southern District Court. The purpose of this hearing was to make a final determination on approving the bench warrant. However, according to one of the most recent reports, a South Korean court has quashed the arrest warrant.

Judge Hong Jin-pyo of the Seoul Southern District Court refused to accept the prosecution's warrant to detain Yoo after the judge interviewed the suspect. He said it's hard to grasp the significance of arrest and why it's necessary. Despite the fact that an arrest warrant had been issued for Yoo, the judge claims that he returned to Korea.

Naver and Yonhap News, two South Korean news outlets, both reported on the cancellation of the warrant for the suspect's arrest. With these changes, it's no longer clear if Do Kwon will experience the same fate.