Montenegro to Extradite Terra’s Do Kwon to the United States
Montenegro’s top justice official privately intends to extradite collapsed crypto firm Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon to the United States instead of his native South Korea, according to people familiar with discussions.
Kwon faces criminal fraud charges in both countries regarding the $40 billion downfall of his TerraUSD and Luna tokens in May 2022. He was jailed in Montenegro this March for travel document forgery.
Key Context:
- In November, a Montenegro court approved Kwon’s extradition but left the destination choice to Justice Minister Andrej Milovic.
- Milovic is expected to keep his decision confidential until after Kwon exhausts appeals of the ruling.
- Prosecutors in South Korea and the US are competing to try Kwon first regarding allegedly fraudulent claims surrounding the stablecoin TerraUSD’s stability.
- Its failure undermined faith in cryptocurrencies amid a broader crypto market crash that deepened an ongoing “crypto winter.”
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Milovic to extradite Do Kwon to the U.S.
Citing anonymous sources, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Minister Milovic currently favors sending Kwon to face trial in America. This move would bypass expectations that South Korea would take the lead in handling the prosecution of Kwon.
Kwon was present in Montenegro when authorities arrested him at the national airport for using false paperwork. He was subsequently sentenced to four months of imprisonment just for that offense.
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TerraUSD and LUNA witnessed a significant decline in their value, virtually losing all their worth within a brief span of days in 2022. The collapse of the Terra ecosystem was considered one of the biggest in the history of the crypto realm. The event affected several businesses and the whole crypto market alike.
