U.S. prosecutors have announced their intention to contest a recent ruling by a Montenegrin high court regarding the extradition of Do Kwon, the former CEO of Terraform Labs, to South Korea.
This development is a significant chapter in an ongoing legal saga involving multiple jurisdictions, including South Korea and the U.S., both of which have requested Kwon’s extradition.
As reported by Bloomberg on March 7, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is actively pursuing Kwon’s extradition in accordance with relevant international agreements and Montenegrin law. The DOJ has commended Montenegrin authorities for their cooperation in upholding the rule of law.
The legal battle took a turn on Feb. 21 when the High Court in Podgorica ruled in favor of extraditing Kwon to the United States. However, this decision was later overturned by the Montenegro Appeals Court due to significant procedural violations. This reversal shifts the focus back to Kwon’s potential extradition to South Korea.
The U.S. case against Kwon involves eight charges, including allegations of fraud and market manipulation in relation to the $40 billion collapse of the Terra ecosystem. Similarly, South Korea has filed charges against Kwon, including fraud and violations of capital markets law. Kwon’s legal team has expressed a preference for extradition to South Korea, citing proximity to family and a potentially shorter prison sentence.
This legal development coincides with another high-profile case in the U.S. involving Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of FTX, who faces significant prison time following a fraud conviction in New York. The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, which is prosecuting Kwon’s case, also handled Bankman-Fried’s prosecution.
Kwon was apprehended in March 2023 by Montenegrin authorities for traveling with a counterfeit Costa Rican passport, following an arrest warrant issued by South Korean prosecutors in September 2022. Since then, he has been in prison over the passport incident and later transferred to extradition custody.
In related news, the Terra Classic community is actively engaged in recovery efforts following the collapse of TerraUSD (UST) in May 2022. Initiatives include implementing token-burning mechanisms to reduce the overall supply of LUNC and exploring potential rebranding strategies. These measures aim to restore investor confidence and differentiate the project from its troubled past.
Furthermore, the community is exploring integrations with new projects and decentralized applications to expand LUNC’s utility and foster adoption within the web3 ecosystem.
Despite these efforts, the aftermath of the TerraUSD crash continues to present regulatory hurdles for LUNC, impacting its credibility in the financial market.