Montenegro extradited Terraform Labs Co-Founder Do Kwon to the United States today (Tuesday), according to the country's interior ministry.
Kwon, a South Korean national, was the CEO of Terraform Labs, the company behind TerraUSD, a stablecoin that collapsed in May 2022. This collapse triggered major volatility in cryptocurrency markets.
Extradition to US Approved After Legal Proceedings
After 18 months of legal proceedings, Montenegro approved Kwon's extradition to face fraud charges in the US. Kwon was at the center of the cryptocurrency disaster that saw the loss of nearly $40 billion in a matter of days, with the collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna tokens.
Montenegro's Minister of Justice, Bojan Božović, signed the extradition order following a review by the country's Supreme Court. While South Korea also sought Kwon's extradition, the US request took priority due to the severity of the charges. Montenegro has no direct extradition treaty with either country, complicating the decision process.
Montenegro says it extradites Terraform Lab co-founder Do Kwon to US https://t.co/tLDcq6sK0r
— The Straits Times (@straits_times) December 31, 2024
Extradition Leads to US Fraud Charges
Kwon has encountered legal issues globally. In February 2023, US regulators charged him with fraud, accusing him of misrepresenting TerraUSD's stability. His partner, Han Cheng Jun, was extradited to South Korea earlier this year.
In Montenegro, Kwon served a four-month sentence for document forgery. After his release, he was detained again while authorities decided on his extradition, as reported byFinance Magnates.
Court Rejecting US Request
In August, a Montenegro appeals court ruled that Do Kwon would be extradited to South Korea, rejecting the United States’ request. However, the timeline for his transfer to South Korea remained unclear. This decision followed months of legal battles between South Korea and the US over Kwon's extradition. The appeals court's latest ruling upheld the earlier decision of a lower court. Ultimately, Kwon has now been extradited to the US.
This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.
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