The Montenegrin high court overseeing Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon’s extradition retrial has decided to send him back to South Korea instead of the US, local media reported on March 7.
The decision will likely be final as the case has gone through multiple stages of trials and appeals over the past year as both countries vied for Kwon’s custody due to the high-profile nature of the case.
The exact timeline of the extradition is unclear as the official court documents have not been filed as of press time. However, it is unlikely to happen before March 23 as Kwon is serving his forgery sentence until then.
Earlier in the day, reports revealed that South Korea’s National Police requested the help of Interpol to bring Kwon back to his home country to face charges.
Notably, Kwon had previously consented to be deported to South Korea, where Terra co-founder Daniel Shin is currently facing trial for fraud, illegal fundraising, and violating capital market laws.
Kwon’s protracted extradition
Kwon’s legal troubles in Montenegro began last year when he was arrested for using a forged passport while traveling with former Terra CFO Han Chang-Joon, who was extradited to South Korea last month.
Kwon has since been in custody, pending extradition proceedings. Montenegro initially decided to send him to the US due to its ties with the country. However, an appellate court blocked the extradition over breaches of criminal procedure laws and sent the case back for retrial.
For months, Kwon has fought against his extradition to the US. On March 5, the Montenegro Court of Appeals revoked his extradition, citing breaches of the country’s criminal procedure laws.
US and South Korean authorities have sought Kwon’s trial within their jurisdictions. Both countries aim to hold him accountable for his involvement in the collapse of Terra’s algorithmic UST stablecoin, which resulted in losses of over $40 billion.
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