Montenegro Court Approves Extradition of Do Kwon to South Korea for Criminal Charges

Montenegro’s Appeals Court has issued a final ruling against Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, dismissing his appeal against extradition to South Korea. Kwon is set to be extradited from Montenegro to South Korea after March 23 to face criminal charges related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency venture. Both the US and South Korea have sought his extradition, and Montenegrin officials have now confirmed the decision on his destination.

Montenegro Rejects Do Kwon’s Extradition Appeal
An official announcement on Wednesday revealed that Montenegro’s appeals court has rejected Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon’s attempt to overturn an extradition approval to South Korea. The decision upholds a previous ruling by a higher court in Montenegro, which determined that Kwon should be sent to South Korea to face charges connected to the failure of his cryptocurrency company in May 2022. Kwon had appealed this decision but was unsuccessful.
Do Kwon’s lawyer, Goran Rodic, confirmed that the extradition decision is final and that there can be no further appeals from either Kwon or the United States. The timing of Kwon’s extradition remains uncertain, and the US Department of Justice has not yet commented on the matter.
According to a statement, the panel of the Court of Appeals reviewed the appeal and concluded that the initial court had correctly determined that South Korea’s extradition request was made earlier than the request from the US, hence the decision to extradite Kwon to South Korea.
Kwon’s Destination After March 23
Currently, Kwon is being held in detention in Montenegro, serving a four-month sentence for falsifying documents. Once he completes this sentence, it is expected that he will be extradited to South Korea, according to his Montenegrin lawyer, Goran Rodic.
Rodic explained, “The decision aligns with the evidence in the case file. Kwon’s sentence ends on March 23, and he will be extradited thereafter. This is all the information available at this time.”
However, the US intends to continue challenging the decision of the Montenegrin Court to extradite Do Kwon to South Korea. Since the collapse of Terra in mid-2022, international organizations such as Interpol have closely monitored Kwon. The downfall of Terra resulted in the loss of billions in investor funds, prompting Kwon to flee to Montenegro.
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Crypto Regulations
Cryptocurrency