Do Kwon To Be Extradited To South Korea After Montenegro Rejects US Bid

After a drawn-out authorized battle spanning over 16 months, the Montenegrin Court docket of Attraction has lastly dominated that cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon will likely be extradited to his dwelling nation of South Korea, rejecting a parallel extradition request from the USA.

Do Kwon One Step Nearer To Dealing with Trial In South Korea

Do Kwon, the co-founder of the now-collapsed blockchain protocol Terraform Labs, has been on the heart of a world crackdown for the reason that implosion of his firm’s Luna and TerraUSD cryptocurrencies worn out an estimated $40 billion in investor funds. This prompted each South Korean and US authorities to hunt to deliver Kwon to justice, accusing him of orchestrating an enormous fraud.

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The Montenegrin court docket’s choice, introduced on August 1, marks a victory for South Korean prosecutors, who’ve been pursuing Kwon since he went on the run in September 2022. It has now concluded a authorized saga that has performed out within the Balkan nation since Kwon’s arrest at Podgorica airport in March 2023.

In line with the native media experiences, the decide overseeing the case dominated that South Korea’s extradition request took priority over the American one. The explanation for that is that South Korea’s request was submitted first, consistent with Montenegro’s current extradition treaty with South Korea, which takes priority over its settlement with the USA.

“That is the second legally binding court docket choice on the extradition of Do Kwon to South Korea,” defined Do Kwon’s lawyer, Goran Rodić, in an announcement. “It’s totally in accordance with the regulation and worldwide treaties that regulate the extradition of individuals wished for felony prosecution or serving a sentence.”

The ruling comes after Do Kwon and his enterprise companion, Chang Joon, have been sentenced to 4 months in jail in Montenegro for trying to flee the nation utilizing cast passports. After serving their sentences, Kwon was positioned in a shelter for foreigners close to the capital, Podgorica, the place he has been awaiting the end result of the extradition proceedings. Chang Joon, however, was efficiently extradited to South Korea.

Mounting Authorized Woes 

Do Kwon’s authorized troubles, nevertheless, prolong far past Montenegro. In April, Bitcoinist reported {that a} jury in New York declared Kwon and Terraform Labs responsible for civil fraud, agreeing with the US Securities and Change Fee (SEC) that that they had deceived buyers. The corporate subsequently agreed to pay a $4.5 billion settlement with the SEC.

Regardless of this civil settlement, the US authorities remained insistent in its demand that Montenegro extradite Kwon and prosecute him criminally for his misdeeds within the crypto market. Nevertheless, this newest ruling by the Montenegrin Supreme Court docket represents a setback to US authorities’ expectations. 

On the time of writing, the blockchain’s native token Luna Basic (LUNC) is buying and selling at $0.00007379, down greater than 9% within the final 24 hours. Over longer time frames, the token can be down 15% and eight% over the fourteen and thirty day durations, respectively. 

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