MONTENEGRO COURT APPROVES EXTRADITION OF DO KWON
The judiciary's website has reported that a court in Podgorica, Montenegro's capital, has authorized the extradition of Do Kwon, the founder of Terra, to the United States or South Korea. Kwon was detained in March at Podgorica's airport for possessing forged documents
.The Montenegrin Justice Minister will make the final decision on extradition after Kwon serves a four-month prison sentence for document forgery in Montenegro.
After being arrested in Montenegro, Kwon is facing multiple counts of fraud charged by U.S. federal prosecutors. He also has existing civil charges in the U.S. and an ongoing investigation in South Korea related to last year's collapse of terraUSD.
According to CoinDesk, Kwon and his associate Han Chang-Joon received a four-month prison sentence for falsifying documents. The Montenegro High Court upheld the sentence and rejected their appeal. Kwon might face extradition to South Korea or the U.S. after serving his sentence in Montenegro.
It's important to note that in April, Daniel Shin, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, was indicted in South Korea for violating capital markets laws. As a result, the prosecutors froze $185 million in assets. Despite Shin denying any involvement in the company's collapse, he had left the company two years before.
At a hearing held in May, the defendants refuted the charges that were pressed against them by the Montenegrin prosecutor. While Kwon's lawyers did not respond immediately to the requests for comment when the U.S. charges were announced, a spokesperson for the company he founded, Terraform Labs, stated in July that they would fight against the "misguided and deeply flawed" allegations made by the United States.
After Kwon's arrest, the U.S. District Court in Manhattan released an eight-count indictment against him for securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud, and conspiracy. In late May, a Montenegrin court revoked the bail of 800,000 euros for both individuals, stating that it couldn't be taken as a guarantee, and neither could their promise that they wouldn't flee upon release from detention.
