US and South Korea requested extradition of Terra co-founder Do Kwon — Montenegro justice minister

by Jeremy

Authorities from each the USA and South Korea have made efforts to have Terra co-founder Do Kwon extradited to their respective international locations following his arrest in Montenegro.

At a March 29 press convention, Montenegrin Justice Minister Marko Kovač mentioned the USA made diplomatic efforts to ask for Kwon to be handed over, whereas South Korean officers have requested extradition. Kovač made the announcement following Kwon’s arrest at Montenegro’s Podgorica airport on March 23, including the Terra co-founder’s detainment had been prolonged to 30 days.

“Within the case once we obtain a number of extradition requests, I wish to say that figuring out to which state they are going to be extradited is predicated on a number of elements just like the severity of the dedicated legal offense, the situation and time when the legal offense has been dedicated, the order through which now we have obtained the request for extradition and several other different elements,” mentioned Kovač via an interpreter.

Kovač mentioned choices concerning custody of Kwon will go to Montenegro’s excessive court docket. In accordance with the justice minister, the Terra co-founder used allegedly cast passports whereas in Montenegro and should serve time within the nation associated to these expenses if convicted earlier than any extradition is granted.

Kwon’s whereabouts had largely been unknown following the collapse of Terra in Could 2022, although he was typically lively on his Twitter account and mentioned he was making “zero effort to cover” in September. In February, studies urged that Kwon might have traveled to Serbia — the European nation borders Montenegro to the north — after Interpol issued a Crimson Discover for his provisional arrest.

A South Korean citizen, Kwon would doubtless face prosecution in his house nation, the place Terraform Labs was headquartered and authorities have been concentrating on people concerned within the collapse of the platform. On the time of publication, the whereabouts of Terra co-founder Daniel Shin have been unknown, however Kwon’s affiliate Han Chang-Joon was additionally detained in Montenegro.

Associated: Korean e-commerce exec accused of accepting LUNA for shilling Terra Labs

It’s unclear which nation, if any, can be the most certainly to be granted extradition of Kwon. The state of affairs echoes makes an attempt by the USA to realize custody of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was within the Bahamas on the time of the trade’s collapse.

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