Montenegro’s Minister of Justice, Bojan Bozovic, has approved the extradition of South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon to the United States, concluding a protracted legal battle.
Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, is accused of orchestrating a multi-billion-dollar fraud that led to the collapse of two digital tokens, TerraUSD and Luna, in May 2022.
The failure wiped out approximately $40 billion in investor funds, shaking the global cryptocurrency market.
Despite lacking extradition treaties with the US or South Korea, Montenegro’s courts determined that the legal criteria “overwhelmingly supported” the US request, according to an official statement. Kwon also consented to his extradition.
Kwon was arrested in March 2023 in Montenegro while attempting to board a flight to Dubai using forged documents.
His downfall followed allegations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that he misled investors about the stability and value of TerraUSD and Luna. These tokens, touted as stable investments, entered a catastrophic death spiral that rippled across other major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
Interpol issued a red notice for Kwon in September 2022, leading to his eventual capture. Kwon’ follows that of his former colleague, Hon Chang-joon, who was extradited to South Korea earlier this year on related charges.
