According to the latest news on the subject, Montenegro is set to extradite Terraform Labs founder Kwon Do-do to the United States.
According to local media reports on December 27, the development came after Montenegrin Justice Minister Bojan Božović approved Kwon Do-do’s extradition. Bozovic signed off on the Terraform Labs founders’ extradition to the United States, a day after Montenegro’s Constitutional Court rejected their constitutional appeal.
Provincial appeal dismissed
With the court’s ruling, the decision on whether to extradite the Terraform Labs founder to Korea or the United States remains up to the Minister of Justice.
In his appeal, Mr. Kwon claimed that the extradition process was unfair and that there was an error in legal interpretation. But the appeal did not sway the Constitutional Court, which decided to dismiss the appeal, opening the final chapter for his extradition.
South Korea’s Kwon is under investigation by law enforcement in the United States and South Korea following the collapse of TerraUSD and Luna. The cryptocurrency project collapsed in May 2022, wiping more than $40 billion in value from the cryptocurrency market. The ensuing pandemic engulfed several companies, including cryptocurrency lenders.
Mr. Kwon went into hiding when he was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023, beginning a lengthy extradition process.
Terraform Labs has agreed to a $4.5 billion settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2024, with its CEO saying the project will cease operations.