A court in Montenegro has dismissed an appeal from Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, which could have prevented his extradition to South Korea. The Appellate Court of Montenegro announced on March 20 that it had upheld the high court’s decision to allow Kwon’s extradition to his home country, where he holds citizenship. If the extradition proceeds, Kwon may face multiple criminal charges. The appellate court stated that it agreed with the initial court’s ruling, which determined that South Korea’s extradition request took precedence over the United States’ request. Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 for using falsified travel documents and has since remained in the country as both the US and South Korea have submitted competing extradition requests for him. Additionally, despite his absence, the criminal case against Kwon in the US, where he faces eight felony charges, is anticipated to move forward. In February, a Montenegrin court ruled for Kwon’s extradition to the US, but his lawyers successfully appealed the decision in March, resulting in South Korea’s request gaining priority. During Kwon’s tenure at Terraform Labs, the company collapsed in May 2022, partly due to its handling of TerraUSD (UST) and Luna (LUNA) tokens. This platform failure likely contributed to the crypto market downturn in 2022, leading to the bankruptcy or collapse of several firms. It remains uncertain what legal options Kwon’s lawyers have to contest his extradition to South Korea. Following Terra’s collapse, the country’s government has been imposing severe penalties on individuals involved in crypto-related crimes.
Montenegro's Court Denies Do Kwon's Appeal, Allowing Extradition to South Korea