Montenegrin Justice Minister discusses Do Kwon with US SEC in recent meeting

Montenegrin authorities recently met with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission representatives and discussed the investigation on Do Kwon, the former Terraform Labs leader, as well as broader matters in crypto investor protection, the country’s Justice Ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry said in a statement that the SEC presented the results of its investigation on Kwon to Andrej Milović, the justice minister, along with the court process against Kwon in the U.S.

While the release did not reveal the specifics of matters discussed regarding Kwon, the discussion may signify progress in Kwon’s extradition, which has otherwise been in a stalemate. The question of where the Terra co-founder will be extradited to — the U.S. or his native South Korea — has been going on for months. 

In early April, Montenegro’s Supreme Court ruled that the law requires the minister of justice to make the extradition decision instead of the court. This ruling came after Kwon was set to be extradited to South Korea in March, a decision that Montenegro's prosecutors had pushed back against.

Terraform Labs and Kwon were found liable for civil fraud by a U.S. jury in a case brought by the SEC in February 2023 over the algorithmic stablecoin Terra USD (UST), which had collapsed in a dramatic fashion a year earlier.

Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March last year for traveling with forged travel documents. After his prison term ended on March 23, 2024, Kwon was reportedly placed in a “reception center” for foreigners with his passport confiscated by local authorities.