Montenegrin authorities extradited the South Korean cryptocurrency specialist Do Kwon, who can be needed by Seoul over his agency’s multibillion-dollar chapter, to the United States on Tuesday, officers stated.
Do Kwon was “handed over to the competent law enforcement authorities of the United States of America and agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),” Montenegro’s inside ministry stated in a press release.
He was extradited upon the choice of Montenegro justice ministry to face “criminal proceedings in the U.S. for crimes of conspiracy to commit fraud,” the assertion added.
For months, Seoul and Washington have been searching for the South Korean’s extradition for his suspected position in a fraud linked to his firm’s failure, which worn out about $40 billion of traders’ cash and shook world crypto markets.
Last week Justice Minister Bojan Bozovic issued a call approving the extradition after a 12 months and a half of court docket rulings and subsequent reversals over it.
Kwon’s Montenegrin attorneys denounced the choice as opposite to European conventions on extradition. They stated they are going to attraction to the nation’s constitutional court docket and the European Court of Human Rights.
“Today Montenegro completed the extradition of Do Kwon to the United States to face charges in the Terra/Luna case,” Prime Minister Milojko Spajic stated on X.
“This extradition demonstrates our unwavering commitment to international justice and the rule of law!”
Fall of ‘genius’
The crypto tycoon was arrested in March 2023 on the airport in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, whereas getting ready to board a flight to Dubai with a faux Costa Rican passport.
Before his arrest within the tiny Balkan nation, he had been on the run for months, fleeing South Korea and later Singapore, earlier than his firm went bankrupt in 2022.
Montenegro had already deported Kwon’s business accomplice – recognized solely by his initials J.C.H. – to South Korea in early February.
Terraform Labs created a cryptocurrency referred to as TerraUSD that was marketed as a “stablecoin,” a token that’s pegged to steady property such because the U.S. greenback to stop drastic fluctuations.
Do Kwon efficiently marketed them as the following large factor in crypto, attracting billions in investments and world hype.
Media stories in South Korea described him as a “genius.”
But regardless of billions in investments, TerraUSD and its sister token Luna went right into a dying spiral in May 2022.
Experts stated Kwon had arrange a glorified pyramid scheme during which many traders misplaced their financial savings.
He left South Korea earlier than the crash and spent months on the run.
In January, Terraform Labs formally sought chapter safety within the United States.
The chapter submitting would permit Terraform “to execute on its business plan while navigating ongoing legal proceedings, including representative litigation pending in Singapore and U.S. litigation involving the Securities and Exchange Commission,” the corporate stated in a press release.
It stated it additionally meant to “meet all financial obligations to employees and vendors.”
Cryptocurrencies have come beneath growing scrutiny from regulators after quite a few controversies lately, together with the high-profile collapses of exchanges.
Source: www.dailysabah.com