On New Year’s Eve, Montenegrin authorities announced that Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon had been extradited to the United States. The development came after the justice minister signed his extradition order, ending a long-running battle between the United States and South Korea to bring the cryptocurrency entrepreneur to justice.
Terraform Labs founder handed over to US authorities
On December 31, Montenegro extradited Do Kwon to the United States to face trial over his role in the collapse of Terraform Labs in 2022. Montenegro’s Interior Ministry announced the end of the extended extradition row in a statement on Tuesday, The Korean Herald reported. morning.
According to the report, Do Kwon was “turned over to the competent law enforcement authorities of the United States and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials” and “faced criminal proceedings in the United States on charges of conspiracy to defraud.” ”
Montenegro’s Justice Minister Bojan Bojovic last week rejected South Korea’s request and signed an order for Dogwon’s extradition to the United States. Both countries have sought his extradition for more than a year, sparking a protracted legal battle to bring the once-influential cryptocurrency mogul to justice.
As local news reported, “The Department of Justice considered all the facts and circumstances and evaluated the criteria” and concluded that the Terraform Labs co-founder should be extradited to the United States.
In light of the above, it was concluded that most of the criteria established by law support the extradition request of the competent authorities of the United States, and the Minister of Justice made the decision to allow Kwon Do-hyun’s extradition to the United States. At the same time, the United States is refusing to extradite him to the Republic of Korea.
Do Kwon’s lawyers in Montenegro reportedly criticized the justice minister’s decision and announced that they would “appeal to the country’s Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights.”
Do Kwon’s Montenegrin Saga
The Korean entrepreneur has been in Montenegrin detention for more than a year and a half. In March 2023, authorities detained him along with Han Changjun, Terraform Lab’s former financial director, for attempting to use fake travel documents at Podgorica airport.
Before his arrest, he had fled his home country and Singapore for several months before Terraform Labs went bankrupt. The company’s failure was one of the largest in cryptocurrency history, with “approximately $50 billion worth of assets wiped out in one week in two of the network’s offerings, TerraUSD (UST) and Luna (LUNA),” the Federal Reserve said. The board elaborated. With paper.
Mr. Do Kwon was subsequently sentenced to four months in prison in Montenegro, followed by an additional two months at the request of the United States and South Korea. Upon release, he was taken to an immigration detention center to await the Montenegrin High Court’s decision on his extradition request.
Terra Luna Classic (LUNC) is trading at $0.000111 on 1-week chart. Source: LUNCUSDT on TradingView
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