Do Kwon will be extradited to US by Montenegro Justice Minister: WSJ

The Block2023/12/07 19:21

By:The Block

Quick Take Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon will be extradited to the U.S. from Montenegro, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited anonymous sources. Montenegro’s Justice Minister told people of his plans in private meetings, the paper said.

Weeks after a Montenegro high court approved the extradition of Do Kwon, a top official has agreed with the ruling and eventually plans to extradite the Terraform Labs co-founder to the U.S., according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

In "closed-door discussions," Justice Minister Andrej Milovic said he plans to extradite Kwon to the U.S., the WSJ reported, citing anonymous sources. Kwon has been in a jail in Montenegro for months on charges of document forgery.

The extradition is sought for charges related to financial crimes. Kwon previously agreed to be extradited to South Korea, but Milovic was expected to make the final decision on which country would take precedence.

Milovic has not yet announced his decision and may wait for the country’s courts to rule on a last-ditch appeal by Kwon against the court ruling, the WSJ said.

Crypto titans ensnared

The U.S. has made headlines in recent months first for prosecuting former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and then most recently charging Binance's Changpeng "CZ" Zhao for anti-money laundering and sanctions violations. Zhao pled guilty as Binance agreed to pay more than $4 billion in fines.

Kwon became the target of a worldwide search in late 2022 after global police body Interpol reportedly issued a so-called red notice for him as a result of the collapse of the two tokens he created, TerraUSD and Luna. The collapse of the tokens wiped out about $40 billion.

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