Extradition of South Korea’s ‘cryptocurrency king’ Do Kwon approved by Montenegro court
- Do Kwon is the former CEO of Terraform Labs, the company behind TerraUSD that collapsed in May 2022, roiling cryptocurrency markets
- He is wanted by Washington as well as by Seoul
A court in Montenegro said on Friday it had approved the extradition of cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon, leaving a minister to decide if he will be handed over to South Korea or the United States, which both want him.
Do Kwon, who is charged in the US with a multibillion-dollar fraud, and his ally were sentenced in June to four months in prison for using forged passports.
Police said after arresting them that they had found doctored Costa Rican passports, a separate set of Belgian passports, laptop computers and other devices in their luggage.
At a hearing in May, the defendants denied the charges pressed by the Montenegrin prosecutor.
Kwon’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment when the US charges were announced, but a spokesperson for the company he founded, Terraform Labs, said in July it would fight the “misguided and deeply flawed” US allegations.
The High Court in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica said on Friday Do Kwon had agreed to be extradited to South Korea under an abbreviated procedure but that the justice minister would have the final say as multiple states have requested his handover.