A court in the Balkan country of Montenegro has rejected the appeal of cryptocurrency firm Terraform Labs’ Co-Founder, Do Kwon, to block his extradition to South Korea. This decision has sealed the transfer of custody of Kwon to authorities in South Korea where he will face “several criminal offenses.”
Do Kwon Will Be Extradited to South Korea
The appeals court highlighted that by rejecting the appeal, it upheld the previous decision of the country’s high court to extradite Kwon to South Korea and not the United States. Kwon is a citizen of South Korea.
“Deciding on the appeal of the defendant’s counsel, the panel of the Court of Appeals assessed that the [trial] court had correctly established that the request of the Republic of South Korea arrived earlier in the order of arrival compared to the request of the USA,” the appeals court noted in the ruling.
“[It] made a decision allowing the extradition of the accused Do Kwon to South Korea.”
A Massive Crypto Collapse
Under Kwon’s watch, Terraform Labs' TerraUSD and Luna coins collapsed in May 2022, wiping out nearly $37 billion in the cryptocurrency market value and triggering a wider collapse and the bankruptcy of a few other firms.
Kwon fled quickly amid the project's collapse, and his whereabouts remained unknown until he was arrested last year in Montenegro while traveling with false documents.
Apart from South Korea, the authorities in the United States are also after Kwon. The US prosecutors brought eight charges against Kwon. Although the US tried to extradite him from Montenegro, the defense lawyers of Kwon successfully appealed that attempt. However, the US might move forward with prosecuting Kwon even without his physical presence.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission additionally filed a civil suit against Terraform Labs and Kwon, while the two are facing the prospect of a class action lawsuit in Singapore. In January, Terraform Labs filed for bankruptcy in the US, estimating the liabilities in the range of $100 million to $500 million.
