Authorities in Montenegro are set to release Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, as they deliberate on whether to extradite him to the United States or South Korea. Kwon has been in custody for almost a year and will be allowed to leave prison on March 23, although he will have to surrender his travel documents to prevent him from leaving the country. The Council of the Supreme Court made the decision to release Kwon as they prepare to review the extradition request from his native South Korea.
Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 for using falsified travel documents along with his colleague, Han Chang-joon, the former chief financial officer of Terraform Labs. Both the US and South Korea have requested Kwon’s extradition to face fraud charges in their respective countries, but a final decision has not yet been made.
If he is extradited to the US, Kwon could potentially face eight felony charges that were filed by prosecutors in March 2023. In South Korea, he might be indicted for fraud and violations of capital markets law. It is currently uncertain where he will ultimately be extradited, if at all.
Prosecutors also reportedly plan to seize Kwon’s South Korean passport, which was set to be revoked in 2022 after Terra’s collapse. In Montenegro, Kwon used a forged Costa Rican passport, which he claimed was authentic, leading to his arrest in 2023.
Meanwhile, Terraform Labs co-founder Shin Hyun-Seong, also known as Daniel Shin, and others affiliated with the platform are facing criminal charges for defrauding investors. Shin has remained in South Korea since Terra’s collapse in May 2022, which drew regulatory scrutiny and contributed to a significant downturn in the crypto market.
Report: Montenegrin authorities set to release Do Kwon while he awaits extradition