Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, who has been residing in Montenegro since his arrest in March 2023, is reportedly set to be extradited to america to face prices associated to monetary fraud.

The choice comes after the Podgorica Excessive Court docket introduced that it’ll honor the US prosecution’s request to strive Do Kwon for legal offenses dedicated within the discipline of monetary operations.

Montenegrin Court docket Rejects South Korea’s Extradition Request

The Montenegrin information outlet Pobjeda reported on Wednesday that the courtroom rejected South Korea’s extradition request, paving the way in which for Do Kwon’s extradition to america.

The Court docket of Enchantment intervened and directed the Excessive Court docket to find out whether or not Do Kwon ought to be extradited to South Korea or america, as requested by the respective international locations.

Beforehand, the Excessive Court docket had acknowledged that the circumstances for Do Kwon’s extradition have been happy and left the choice to the Minister of Justice, Andrej Milović, to prioritize the requesting international locations.

Nevertheless, the Court docket of Enchantment clarified that the minister’s function is restricted to common extradition proceedings, and since Do Kwon had consented to extradition in an expedited process, the choice rests with the international locations searching for his extradition.

Goran Rodić, Do Kwon’s protection legal professional, argued that authorized causes, together with the European Convention on Extradition, the bilateral settlement with america, and the Montenegrin Regulation on Worldwide Authorized Help, strongly help Do Kwon’s extradition to South Korea.

In distinction, Justice Minister Andrej Milović said that the choice is political, emphasizing the significance of america as Montenegro’s fundamental overseas coverage associate.

Milović expressed intentions to expedite the signing of a bilateral extradition settlement with the US to determine a authorized framework for future extraditions.

Extradition Looms For Do Kwon

Do Kwon and his affiliate Hon Chand Jun have been apprehended on March 23 final 12 months at Podgorica airport whereas trying to journey to Dubai utilizing counterfeit Costa Rican passports. Subsequently, Belgian journey paperwork have been additionally found of their possession.

Through the court proceedings on the Fundamental Court docket in Podgorica for doc falsification prices, Do Kwon and Hon Chand Jun claimed that that they had acquired Costa Rican and Belgian passports by way of an company in Singapore and had used them for worldwide journey. They argued that they have been unaware of any discrepancies within the passports’ authenticity on the time of acquisition.

Do Kwon talked about that shortly after receiving the Belgian passports, he and his affiliate realized the inaccuracies within the names and dates of beginning, rendering them unusable.

The Terraform Labs’ co-founder additional defined that that they had initially sought Granada passports alongside the Belgian ones, however their utility was denied. Consequently, they positioned belief within the company as a result of profitable approval of their Costa Rican passport utility.

Hon Chand Jun was extradited to South Korea ten days in the past, whereas Do Kwon is awaiting extradition to america, the date of which has not been disclosed by the officers overseeing the case.