Su Zhu, co-founder of collapsed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, was reportedly arrested at Changi airport on Friday while trying to leave Singapore, according to the company's liquidator Teneo.
Three Arrows Capital, founded in 2012 by Su Zhu and Kyle Davis - was known in the crypto-industry for its bullish investment strategies and conviction in a so-called "crypto super cycle". At its peak, Three Arrows reportedly had around US$10 billion in assets under management.
The company filed for bankruptcy in 2022, and was one of the catalysts that set off the ongoing crypto winter due to its interconnected relationships with other major crypto ventures such as FTX, Celsius and Voyager. Three Arrows was placed into liquidation in the British Virgin Islands and Teneo was appointed as liquidator.
The liquidators allege that Zhu and Davies had failed to cooperate with their investigations, and ultimately sought commital orders from the Singapore Court for failing to comply with Court orders. It is understood that Zhu faces up to four months' imprisonment.
In September 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore imposed a nine-year ban on Zhu and Davies, prohibiting them from owning or managing any registered capital markets firm. In May 2023, the duo were reprimanded by Dubai's crypto regulator for running a new venture called OPNX, which allows trading in claims in defunct crypto firms, without proper authorisations.
Su Zhu is not the only former crypto tycoon facing legal troubles. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the crypto exchange FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas last December and later charged with orchestrating an allegedly vast fraud and other offences. His criminal trial will begin in a US federal court on 4 October 2023 and is expected to last for 6 weeks.
In March 2023, Do Kwon, the founder of the crypto company Terraform Labs, was also charged with fraud and arrested in Montenegro as he tried to board a private jet to Dubai. He is currently fighting extradition to the USA and South Korea.
By Jake Huang and Steven Pettigrove