Montenegro's Excessive Court docket dominated on Thursday that Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon needs to be extradited to his native South Korea. The ruling confirms an April ruling by the Podgorica Excessive Court docket that rejected a cryptocurrency fugitive's request for extradition to america. A date for Kwon's extradition to South Korea has but to be set.
The ruling in Montenegro on August 1 is the newest in a collection of protracted authorized battles surrounding the disgraced cryptocurrency founder. After Montenegro's Excessive Court docket dominated in March to extradite Kwon to South Korea, the Supreme Court docket overturned the ruling in April and despatched the case to a decrease courtroom.
“As there was no attraction towards the above resolution, the choice of the Excessive Court docket of Podgorica granting the extradition in an abbreviated process on the request of the Republic of Korea is legally binding,” the courtroom stated in an announcement on Thursday.
Based in 2018, TerraForm Labs disrupted the cryptocurrency trade by wiping out at the very least $40 billion in market cap in Might 2022. Earlier this 12 months, TerraForm Labs filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety in Delaware after its cryptocurrency collapsed in 2022.
Each america and South Korea are looking for Kwon's extradition from Montenegro for prosecution, after he was arrested at an airport in Montenegro with false journey paperwork.
The U.S. Securities and Change Fee (SEC) sued Kwon and TerraForm for allegedly defrauding U.S. buyers who bought the corporate's digital belongings, TerraUSD and Luna, in February 2023. On the identical time, Kwon is needed in South Korea on expenses of fraud and monetary crimes associated to the collapse of Terra USD and Luna in Might 2022.
The U.S. Division of Justice stated in an announcement in March that it might proceed to hunt Kwon's extradition “in accordance with related worldwide and bilateral agreements, and Montenegrin regulation.”
If this occurs, the cryptocurrency fugitives will probably be extradited to South Korea to face trial.
Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 after making an attempt to journey to Dubai on a false passport. The Terraform Labs founder was sentenced to 4 months in jail however remained in custody till he was launched on bail in March 2024.
Kwon's bankrupt firm agreed to pay slightly below $4.5 billion to the U.S. Securities and Change Fee to settle a civil securities fraud lawsuit. The deal additionally included a $204 million contribution from Kwon. TerraForm Labs additionally agreed to wind down its operations. Final month, the corporate introduced a strategic sale course of as a part of its ongoing Chapter 11 chapter case.
