Montenegro's Justice Minister Bojan Bojovic announced on Friday that Terraform creator Do Kwon will be extradited to the United States.
Both the U.S. and South Korean governments are seeking to detain Kwon for criminal charges related to the 2022 collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin Terra/Luna system, which is linked to a series of high-profile failures including FTX. This was the beginning.
Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 and sentenced to several months in prison on charges of forging a passport, and has been fighting extradition to the United States for more than a year. Various courts around the country have ruled in favor of either the United States or South Korea taking custody of the former cryptocurrency industry executive.
Bojovic said in a statement Friday that the decision followed a ruling by the country's highest court that the conditions for approving the extradition had been met.
“Keeping in mind the Supreme Court's judgment, the Ministry of Justice considered all the facts and circumstances and assessed criteria such as the seriousness of the criminal act, the place of execution, the order in which the request form was submitted, and the nationality of the person requested. “Extradition, possible extradition to another country, and other circumstances are possible.”
The U.S. bid met these criteria, the statement said.
Friday's announcement is just the latest in a series of decisions back and forth over where Kwon will be sent. Montenegro's appeals court ruled in August that Kwon should go to South Korea.
Legal implications for Terra continue in the United States. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission settled a lawsuit with Jump Crypto subsidiary Tai Mo Shan, alleging that Tai Mo Shan sold LUNA as a security. The company will pay $123 million as part of the settlement.
Editor's note: The Montenegrin government statement has been translated into English.
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