Do Kwon Will Be Extradited To The US

In a decision that concludes a series of prolonged legal proceedings, Montenegro's Minister of Justice, Bojan Božović, has signed an order for the extradition of Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon to the United States.

Montenegro has decided to extradite Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon to the United States, rather than South Korea, in a move that concludes a lengthy legal process.

The Montenegrin Minister of Justice, Bojan Božović, has signed an order for Kwon’s extradition to the U.S., Vijesti reported Friday. The decision comes after both the U.S. and South Korea submitted extradition requests for the crypto entrepreneur.

Earlier this year, Montenegro’s Supreme Court ruled that the legal prerequisites for extraditing Kwon were met after both countries submitted separate requests. The court’s decision allowed Minister Božović to consider the facts and decide which jurisdiction would be given priority.

“In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Department of Justice has considered all the facts and circumstances and assessed criteria such as the gravity of the crimes, the place of commission, the order in which the request was submitted, the nationality of the requested person, the possibility of further extradition to another country, as well as other circumstances,” the Department of Justice said in a statement to Vijesti.

“Given the above, it was concluded that most of the criteria provided for by law support the extradition request of the competent authorities of the United States of America, and the Minister of Justice has issued a decision allowing the extradition of Kwon Do Hyeong to the United States of America, while at the same time refusing extradition to the Republic of Korea.”

Both the U.S. and South Korean authorities are investigating Do Kwon for his alleged role in one of the biggest crypto collapses in history. The values of TerraUSD and Luna—two tokens created by Kwon—crashed in May 2022, wiping out around $40 billion from the broader crypto market and causing other digital asset firms to go bankrupt.

Investigators claim that Do Kwon misled investors and suspect that he concealed a large sum of money in connection with the TerraUSD/Luna crash.

After authorities discovered they were traveling on forged passports to Dubai, the crypto entrepreneur and the former finance officer of Do Kwon’s company Terraform Labs, Han Chang-joon, were detained on March 23 of last year at Podgorica airport. Later, Do Kwon received a four-month prison sentence in Montenegro, which prompted both the U.S. and South Korean authorities to submit extradition requests.

Following his release from Spuž Prison on March 23, Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon was questioned by an immigration inspector for five hours before being transferred to the Immigration Center, where he will remain pending final arrangements for his extradition.

Terra Luna Classic (LUNC) was trading at $0.00011565 at the time this article was written.