Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, is currently the subject of an ongoing legal dispute, as a Montenegrin court has approved his extradition to the United States or South Korea.
Official statements published on the court’s website on November 24 indicate that the High Court of Podgorica has ascertained the legal prerequisites for Kwon’s extradition.
The announcement states that while the court has authorized Kwon’s extradition to either the United States or South Korea, the ultimate determination regarding his extradition will rest with the minister of justice of Montenegro.
Before this, a court in Montenegro convicted Kwon of attempting to flee to Dubai via private aircraft using a forged passport and sentenced him to four months in prison. Departure from the country with a counterfeit Costa Rican passport was allegedly the allegation against Kwon in June 2023.
The court statement states that if the minister of justice grants final extradition permission for the defendant, it will occur after implementing the criminal sanction previously declared in the event of fraudulent documents.
March 2023 saw the apprehension of Kwon in Montenegro on suspicion of his involvement in the Terra ecosystem’s $40 billion collapse, which occurred in May 2022.
Following the subsequent extradition requests from both the United States and South Korea, certain prosecutors speculated that the co-founder of Terraform Labs might face lengthy prison terms in both nations.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil lawsuit against Kwon in the United States for fraud-related reasons, and the Justice Department has filed multiple criminal allegations against him concerning the collapse of TerraUSD and LUNA.
According to reports, Kwon could face a forty-year prison term in South Korea, where he purportedly committed the majority of his crimes, if extradited there.
According to reports, Montenegro’s highest court denied Kwon’s appeal last week, thereby keeping him incarcerated. Online sources indicate that Kwon is incarcerated at Spuľ prison, close to Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital city.
Spuſ grants him one hour of daily access to the outdoors. According to European officials, the prison is purportedly overcrowded and poorly ventilated.
