Do Kwon’s Extradition Approved by Montenegro Court

Minister will decide if Kwon will be extradited to the U.S. or South Korea.

AccessTimeIconNov 24, 2023 at 9:10 a.m. UTC
Updated Mar 8, 2024 at 5:34 p.m. UTC
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A court in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, has approved the extradition of Terra founder Do Kwon to either South Korea or the United States, according to an update posted on the judiciary's website.

Kwon was arrested in the country in March after being caught in Podgorica's airport with falsified documents.

The final decision on the extradition will be made by the Montenegrin Justice Minister, after Kwon serves a four-month prison sentence in Montenegro for document forgery, it said.

Following his arrest in Montenegro, Kwon faces multiple counts of fraud charged by U.S. federal prosecutors, in addition to existing civil charges in the U.S. and an ongoing investigation in South Korea related to last year's terraUSD collapse.

Earlier this month, the Montenegro High Court upheld the four-month prison sentence of Kwon and his associate Han Chang-Joon for document falsification, rejecting their appeal and deeming the sentence appropriate, with Kwon facing potential extradition to South Korea or the U.S. after serving his sentence in Montenegro, CoinDesk reported.

In April, Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terraform Labs, was indicted in South Korea for capital markets law violations, with prosecutors freezing $185 million in assets.

For his part, Shin denied involvement in the company's collapse, saying he left two years prior.

UPDATE (Nov. 24, 09:49 UTC): Updates headline.

Edited by Oliver Knight.

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