Key takeaways:
- Do Kwon, a co-founder of Terraform Labs, filed an appeal that would have prevented his extradition to South Korea, but a Montenegrin court denied it.
- Montenegrin authorities detained Kwon in March 2023 for using forged travel documents.
Do Kwon, a co-founder of Terraform Labs, filed an appeal that would have prevented his extradition to South Korea, but a Montenegrin court denied it.
The Appellate Court of Montenegro declared on March 20 that it had confirmed the ruling of the nation’s high court for Kwon to be extradited to South Korea, where he is a citizen. The co-founder of Terraform Labs may be charged with “several criminal offenses” if the extradition process proceeds. The court of appeals stated:
“Deciding on the appeal of the defendant’s counsel, the panel of the Court of Appeals assessed that the first-instance court had correctly established that the request of the Republic of South Korea arrived earlier in the order of arrival compared to the request of the USA,”
Montenegrin authorities detained Kwon in March 2023 for using forged travel documents. Ever since he stayed in the nation, the US and South Korea have filed rival demands to extradite the co-founder of Terraform.
Even if Kwon is unable to appear in person, the criminal prosecution against him in the US, in which he is accused of eight felonies, is probably going to continue. A Montenegrin court ordered Kwon to be extradited to the US in February, but his attorneys successfully challenged the ruling in March, putting South Korea’s claim ahead of the others.
When Kwon was employed at Terraform Labs, the company failed in May 2022, partly because of how it handled tokens that were originally known as TerraUSD (UST) and Luna. The platform’s demise probably had a part in the 2022 crypto market crash, during which a number of businesses filed for bankruptcy or went out of business.
It’s unknown what legal strategies, if any, Kwon’s attorneys have to fight the extradition to South Korea. Since Terra’s collapse, the nation’s government has been harshly punishing offenders implicated in crypto-related offenses.
