Montenegro Court Agrees To Extradition Of South Korean Crypto Criminals, Do Kwon

Do Kwon, former CEO of Terralabs. (photo: x @Bellki01785661)

JAKARTA - A court in Montenegro announced on Friday 24 November that it had approved the extradition of South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon to determine whether he would be handed over to South Korea or the United States, two countries wanted him.

Do Kwon, who was tried in the US on charges of billions of dollars in fraud, and his ally was sentenced to four months in prison in June for using a fake passport.

Police said after arresting them they also found a falsified Costa Rica passport, a separate Belgian passport set, a laptop computer, and other device in their trunk.

At the trial in May, the defendants denied the charges made by prosecutor Montenegro. Do Kwon's lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment when US allegations were announced. But a spokesperson for the company he founded, Terraform Labs, said in July that they would fight charges in the "delivery and highly flawed" US.

The High Court in the capital Montenegro, Podgorica, said on Friday that Do Kwon had approved extradition to South Korea with simplified procedures but that the justice minister would decide because several countries had requested his surrender.

"The decision will be made after Do Kwon has finished serving a prison sentence for falsifying documents," the court said.

Kwon, is a South Korean citizen and former CEO of Terraform Labs based in South Korea, the company behind the collapsed TerraUSD stablecoin in May 2022, which rocked the crypto market.

He was detained at the end of March alongside Han Chang-Joon, a former Terraform Labs financial official, as they tried to board a plane to Dubai from Podgorica.

After Kwon's arrest, the US District Court in Manhattan disclosed eight articles against him for securities fraud, wire fraud, commodity fraud, and conspiracy.

In late May, Montenegro courts lifted a guarantee of 800,000 euros for both. They said it couldn't be considered a strong guarantee, although they promised not to escape after being released from custody.