PODGORICA, Montenegro — A court in Montenegro has determined that Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, is to be extradited to the United States on fraud charges, overriding the option of extradition to his native South Korea, as reported by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. This decision was made by the High Court in Podgorica, where a spokesperson for the court confirmed that Kwon’s legal representatives have a three-day window to file an appeal. The case’s ultimate resolution rests with the appeals court.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Kwon was apprehended in Montenegro in March of the previous year, following his departure from South Korea amidst an investigation related to the collapse of Terraform Labs’ digital currencies, TerraUSD and Luna, in May 2022. This event erased approximately 50 trillion won (US$37 billion) in market value. Kwon faces fraud charges in the United States, filed by federal prosecutors in New York, while also being sought by South Korean prosecutors for allegations tied to the cryptocurrency fiasco.