The legal ruling regarding the fate of crypto mogul Do Kwon’s extradition from Montenegro was returned to a lower court on April 5. Montenegro’s Supreme Court approved the protection of legality of a prior decision from a lower court that had approved Kwon’s extradition to South Korea. Both the United States and South Korea have filed competing claims for Kwon’s extradition, with Montenegro now trying to determine whose claim to prioritize. Kwon’s legal team is pushing for extradition to South Korea first, where analysts believe he may receive a lighter sentence.
Prosecutors claimed that the appellate court had violated procedure by rejecting an appeal from Kwon’s legal team on the matter and instead putting the decision in the hands of the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court clarified that decisions of this nature are not within its responsibility. It stated that in the case of competing extradition requests from two states for the same person, the court’s obligation is to determine whether the legal conditions for extradition have been met individually for each petition, after which the competent minister decides on the permission and order of priority of extradition. Consequently, the decision on Do Kwon’s extradition will now return to the High Court in Podgorica.
Kwon was initially arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 for possessing falsified travel documents. Since then, he has been free to travel within the country until a decision is reached on his extradition case. The United States and South Korea are seeking justice from Kwon for the collapse of the Terra network in May 2022, which resulted in $40 billion of investor value being wiped out across its Terra (LUNA) and TerraUSD (UST) cryptocurrencies. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also accused Kwon of defrauding investors by issuing unregistered securities and won the case, with a Manhattan jury finding Kwon and his company had misled investors about the network.
A Terraform Labs spokesperson expressed disappointment with the verdict and maintained that the SEC did not have the legal authority to bring the case. The spokesperson mentioned that they were considering their options and next steps in response to the verdict. The legal battle over Kwon’s extradition and the allegations against him highlight the ongoing complexities and disputes within the cryptocurrency industry. The competing claims from different countries for his extradition underscore the challenges faced in determining the appropriate course of action in cases involving international legal issues. The outcome of Kwon’s extradition case and the SEC’s verdict will have significant implications for his future and potentially set precedents for similar cases in the cryptocurrency sector.
