Terra founder Do Kwon denied false passport allegations during a trial in Montenegro, saying he obtained a Costa Rican passport through an agency in Singapore.
In court, Kwon said, “We applied for these passports through an agency recommended by friends I respect. It would be hard to believe that someone we know so well would want to travel on a fake passport. Podgorica would be tantamount to suicide.
Kwon was arrested in March at Podgorica airport in Montenegro as he tried to board a private jet bound for Dubai. The arrest was made after airport security questioned the authenticity of the Costa Rican passport.
Kwon defended himself in court, saying he is a member of the Golden Passport program, an accelerated citizenship plan for large investors.
He named several countries, including Grenada, Portugal, Dubai and Montenegro, as supporters of such programs and said he spent €250,000 on a Costa Rican passport.
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However, according to the country's tourism website, the Costa Rican Citizenship by Investment program requires a long stay before foreigners can obtain a passport.
DL News quoted Goran Rodić , Kwon's legal adviser, and Han Chang-jun, his co-defendant and former business partner, as their clients wrote their briefs to the court proving their innocence.
The Costa Rican passports and Belgian ID documents were obtained through an agency in Singapore, Kwon said.
He said they had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the documents or the agency's intentions. According to the Montenegrin public broadcaster RTCG, Hans' passport was also allegedly obtained through Kwon.
After the hearing, Kwon and Han were returned to jail despite having been released on bail the day before.
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