BELGRADE: Montenegro mentioned on Friday (Dec 27) it’ll extradite to america cryptocurrency specialist Do Kwon, who can be wished by Seoul for the multi-billion-dollar chapter of his firm, Terraform Labs.
His legal professionals denounced the choice as opposite to European conventions on extradition, and mentioned they are going to enchantment to the nation’s constitutional court docket and to the European Court docket of Human Rights.
For months, Seoul and Washington have been looking for the South Korean’s extradition for his suspected position in a fraud linked to his firm’s failure, which worn out about US$40 billion of traders’ cash and shook world crypto markets.
Montenegrin Justice Minister Bojan Bozovic “issued a call approving the extradition of the accused, Kwon Do Hyung, to america of America,” the justice ministry mentioned, referring to him by his full identify.
The choice adopted a yr and a half of court docket rulings and subsequent reversals relating to his extradition.
“It was concluded that almost all of the factors prescribed by legislation favour the extradition request” from the US, the ministry added in an announcement.
Crypto tycoon Do Kwon was arrested in March 2023 on the airport in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, whereas getting ready to board a flight to Dubai, and a faux Costa Rican passport was present in his possession.
Earlier than his arrest, he had been on the run for months, fleeing South Korea and later Singapore, earlier than his firm went bankrupt in 2022.
“STABLECOIN” COLLAPSE
After a sequence of rulings by the Montenegrin courts, approving after which cancelling extradition requests, the nation’s constitutional court docket lifted the ultimate hurdle on Tuesday.
It mentioned in a ruling that earlier proceedings “ensured the appellant’s proper to a good trial and didn’t elevate considerations a few potential violation of the appropriate to household life”.
The court docket additionally mentioned that Do Kwon, through the listening to, “personally consented to expedited extradition to each the Republic of South Korea and america”.
Do Kwon’s Montenegrin legal professionals, Marija Radulovic and Goran Rodic, mentioned they’ve requested each the nation’s constitutional court docket and the European Court docket of Human Rights to problem stays in opposition to the extradition.
The legal professionals additionally mentioned the justice ministry had initially delayed delivering the precise determination to them in an try to stop the appeals.
Montenegro had already deported Do Kwon’s enterprise associate – recognized solely by his initials J.C.H. – to South Korea in early February.
Terraform Labs created a cryptocurrency known as TerraUSD that was marketed as a “stablecoin”, a token that’s pegged to steady belongings such because the US greenback to stop drastic fluctuations.
Do Kwon efficiently marketed them as the subsequent huge factor in crypto, attracting billions in investments and world hype.
Media experiences in South Korea described him as a “genius”.
However regardless of billions in investments, TerraUSD and its sister token Luna went right into a demise spiral in Might 2022.
Specialists mentioned Do Kwon had arrange a glorified Ponzi scheme, through which many traders misplaced their life financial savings.
He left South Korea earlier than the crash and spent months on the run.
In January, Terraform Labs formally sought bankruptcy protection within the US.
The bankruptcy filing would permit Terraform “to execute on its marketing strategy whereas navigating ongoing authorized proceedings, together with consultant litigation pending in Singapore and US litigation involving the Securities and Change Fee”, the corporate mentioned in an announcement.
It mentioned it additionally supposed to “meet all monetary obligations to staff and distributors”.
Cryptocurrencies have come below growing scrutiny from regulators after a string of controversies in recent times, together with the high-profile collapse of the exchange FTX.
