The United States (U.S.) and South Korea are reportedly seeking Terraform Labs’ co-founder Do Kwon’s extradition. Do Kwon is currently under the custody of the authorities in Montenegro. The justice minister of Montenegro, Marko Kovac, reportedly said it is up to the concerned judge to take the matter forward. Do Kwon developed the Luna and TerraUSD currencies that went down in 2022.
The U.S. is seeking to extradite Do Kwon owing to a massive cryptocurrency fraud totalling a (lost) market value to the tune of $40 billion.
Marko Kovac said,The extradition of Do Kwon (and the other suspect)… has been officially requested. Consideration will be given to the gravity of crimes, location of committed offenses, sequence of requests, as well as citizenship.
Per Kovac, in case the suspects’ conviction is done in Montenegro, serving time in Montenegro first would ensue. Kovac adds that the two suspects face charges pertaining to forging documents in Montenegro, so the said extradition would occur following a trial plus serving a subsequent sentence, if any, in Montenegro.
Along with Kwon, the chief financial officer (CFO) of Terraform, Han Chang-joon, was also reportedly arrested recently in Montenegro when attempting to flee to Dubai via fake travel documents, per a Montenegrin police statement. As per Do Kwon’s lawyer, the allegations are baseless.
In a recent indictment announced by the U.S., Do Kwon faces charges pertaining to securities, wire, and commodities frauds, apart from conspiracy charges. The two suspects are charged by the Montenegrin police with regards to official documents’ forgery. The police is also reportedly said to have found in their luggage the concocted Costa Rican passports, Belgian passports, laptop computers, and some devices.
Kovac clarifies that the extradition requests by the U.S. and South Korea also seek surrendering the said computers. As per a Podgorica court order, the two suspects are to be placed in a 30-day pre-trial detention.
