According to local reports from Vijesti, the Minister of Justice of Montenegro, Bojan Božović, has signed an order to extradite Do Kwon, founder of Terraform Labs, to the United States. The decision comes after months of legal wrangling between the United States and South Korea, both of which have sought Kwon’s extradition in connection with the $60 billion Terra-Luna collapse.
The Terra blockchain was once considered one of the most revolutionary cryptocurrency projects, but it imploded in 2022 and sent shockwaves throughout the crypto world, causing a wave of bankruptcies. Several major firms, Three Arrows Capital, BlockFi, and FTX, were among the casualties. The collapse left a trail of financial devastation, prompting global investigations into Kwon’s role in the debacle.
Kwon ran off when the crypto market was struggling to digest the aftermath of the implosion of Terra-Luna, using that chance to evade authorities as Interpol issued a Red Notice against him. He ran away first to Serbia and later to Montenegro, from where he was arrested this March 2023, at Podgorica airport, together with former Terraform Labs finance officer Han Chang-joon, while trying to take a private flight to Dubai on forged passports.
Do Kwon’s Arrest and Extradition Battle: A Timeline of Legal and International Drama
Kwon and Han spent four months in a Montenegrin jail while U.S. and South Korean prosecutors competed for extradition rights. The courts of Montenegro flip-flopped repeatedly on extradition orders as Kwon’s legal team, led by Balkan attorney Goran Rodić, contested every decision. On Christmas Day, however, Montenegro’s Constitutional Court rejected Kwon’s latest appeal, paving the way for Minister Božović’s final decision.
Kwon would also be facing serious legal consequences in the U.S., which has investigated the Terraform Labs role in the collapse of Terra-Luna. Earlier this year, Terraform Labs agreed to shut down operations and pay a record $4.47 billion fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Fraud and financial misconduct charges stemming from the Terra’s collapse are likely to be pursued by U.S. prosecutors.
Meanwhile, South Korean authorities are pursuing their case against Kwon, whose conviction if tried back in his country could entail as long as 40 years’ imprisonment on the back of alleged infractions to local financial laws.
It is not known whether Kwon’s lawyers will appeal against the extradition order issued by Minister Božović. Rodić has in the past made strong efforts to prevent the extradition of Kwon, but as the highest court in Montenegro rejected the most recent appeals, the doors for delay seem to be closing one by one.
For now, Kwon’s fate is in the hands of the US government, which is most likely to make him the headliner of one of history’s most infamous crypto-fraud cases. South Korea, headed by Kwon, is now continuously pursuing the international aspect of the high-stakes legal battle, which becomes more concrete day by day.
