Su Zhu, founder of cryptocurrency fund Three Arrows Capital, was arrested in Singapore on Friday as she tried to leave the country, the company’s liquidators said.
Mr Zhu, 36, was arrested at Changi Airport, the liquidators said. A Singapore court on Monday issued so-called “cease and desist orders” against Mr Zhu and another Three Arrows founder, Kyle Davies, sentencing both to four months in prison for failing to cooperate with liquidators investigating their failed hedge fund. According to Teneo, the firm working to liquidate the fund, Mr. Davies’ whereabouts are unknown.
Last summer, Three Arrows, which is based in Singapore and had $4 billion under management at its peak, filed for bankruptcy after cryptocurrency markets collapsed. When the fund collapsed, much of the industry was dragged down with it. The ensuing crisis drained the savings of millions of amateur investors and pushed other companies into bankruptcy.
Mr Zhu is the latest crypto executive to be arrested following the crypto market collapse last year.
In December, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of crypto exchange FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas and later charged with orchestrating a widespread fraud at his company. His criminal trial begins Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan.
In March, Do Kwon, the founder of crypto company Terraform Labs, was arrested in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, as he and a traveling companion attempted to board a private flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He is also accused of fraud.
A lawyer for Mr. Zhu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, Teneo said it would “use all avenues” to ensure that Mr. Zhu “fully complies with the court order issued against him to provide information and documents” related to Three Arrows during his detention.
After Three Arrows collapsed, Mr Zhu and Mr Davies denied wrongdoing and hit the road. Mr. Davies spent time in Spain, Bali and elsewhere. Mr. Zhu played Video games and found a surf instructor. In April they unveiled a new company, Open Exchange, a marketplace for investors who lost money during last year’s crypto implosions.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore, a regulator that reprimanded Three Arrows last June, banned Mr. Zhu and Mr. Davies from carrying out regulated investment activities for nine years, effective Sept. 13, the liquidators added.