Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon – a man wanted in both South Korea and the United States – will soon be extradited from Montenegro after a court approved his deportation.
The High Court of Podgorica last Friday announcement it had “determined that the legal conditions for the extradition of the accused KDH were met, at the request of South Korea and the United States of America.”
The country he is going to remains a mystery. The court said Do Kwon had agreed to be extradited to South Korea in a shortened procedure, but the decision on his destination will be made by Montenegro’s justice minister.
The alleged crypto scammer was find in Montenegro in March 2023, after using fake passports to enter the Balkan country. His South Korean passport was canceled more than five months ago.
Kwon’s whereabouts are unknown after he left Singapore in September 2022. He has repeatedly claimed that he was not on the run even though at that time South Korea had issued a warrant for his arrest for violations of the National Capital Markets Act. Kwon was also the subject of Interpol Red Notice.
Terraform Labs promised investors that its so-called “stablecoin” Terra USD and similar Luna tokens were safe investments that would not collapse. However, this was proven false when laboratories collapse created a $40 billion budget crater and sparked a chain reaction in the industry that was dubbed “crypto winter.”
After Kwon’s arrest at Montenegro Airport, the U.S. District Court in Manhattan filed an eight-count indictment including conspiracy to defraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, electronic fraud and conspiracy to manipulate market.
The fugitive and his startup were already facing civil charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Terraform Labs tried to have the case thrown out, but in August 2023, a Manhattan judge denied this application. Kwon and his friends are accused of “orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud.”
Terraform Labs vowed to “continue to fight” the SEC’s allegations. ®