Terraform Labs co-founder, Do Kwon, will reportedly be extradited to the United States to face fraud charges after being in Montenegro since his arrest in March 2023. According to a report from Montenegrin news outlet Pobjeda on February 21, the High Court of Podgorica rejected a request to extradite Kwon to South Korea before the United States. Kwon’s legal team had appealed, arguing that the final authority to decide on his extradition rested with Montenegro’s Justice Minister, but the high court rejected this claim. The timing of Kwon’s travel to the United States remains uncertain. Following the collapse of Terra in May 2022, his whereabouts were largely unknown until his arrest in March 2023 by Montenegrin authorities for using falsified travel documents. He has been involved in extradition proceedings while in custody, serving a four-month prison sentence. Both the U.S. and South Korea have been vying to charge Kwon with fraud related to his time at Terraform. Shortly after his arrest in Montenegro, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged him with eight criminal counts. Additionally, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has a civil case against Kwon and Terra, with a trial scheduled for March 25. The allegations involve a “multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud” in relation to the offering of TerraUSD (UST) and Terra (LUNA).
Report: Montenegrin court's last-ditch effort leads to Do Kwon's extradition to US