Montenegrin Prime Minister, Milojko Spajic, has been revealed as an early investor in the failed crypto project Terraform Labs, according to recent court documents. The documents show that Spajic invested $75,000 in Terraform Labs in April 2018, purchasing 750,000 Terra (LUNA) tokens. This investment took place just days before the company was officially registered in Singapore. Previously, Spajic denied any personal involvement in the project, claiming that it was his former employer, Das Capital SG, that had invested in Terraform Labs. However, the court documents contradict this, listing Spajic as an investor and revealing a contract from April 2018 that proves his early involvement with the company. Terraform Labs was responsible for the creation of the LUNA and TerraUSD (UST) tokens, which at one point had a market cap of $2 billion before collapsing in May 2022. The collapse of Terra had significant repercussions for the crypto ecosystem, resulting in a loss of nearly $40 billion from the market and the downfall of several crypto hedge funds. In April 2024, Terraform Labs and co-founder Do Kwon were found guilty of defrauding investors in a civil case brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Last week, a settlement was approved by a US District Court Judge that requires Terraform Labs and Kwon to pay $4.5 billion in disgorgement and civil penalties. They will also be permanently banned from engaging in any transactions involving tokens within the Terra ecosystem. The settlement comes after the SEC initially proposed a $5.3 billion penalty, which Terraform Labs contested. The company, currently operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, faces the challenge of fulfilling the substantial financial obligations imposed by the settlement.
