- TerraForm Labs founder Do Kwon was captured in Montenegro in March, 2023.
- Montenegro slated to extradite Kwon after serving 4 months for document forgery.
- Do Kwon is desperately wanted for questioning in both South Korea and the United States.
In an unexpected turn of events, TerraForm Labs founder Do Kwon won’t reside in Montenegro for much longer. The High Court of Podgorica officially approved the controversial crypto mogul’s extradition. As a result, the battle for judicial power over Do Kwon’s allegedly shady business ventures kicks into full swing, as both Kwon’s native South Korea and the United States are eager to bring Do Kwon before a court of law.
To illustrate, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had requested a judicial summary from a federal judge, right after the jury’s lenient decision. According to the SEC’s reply to the jury’s decision, “No rational jury could conclude that Kwon was not liable for Terraform’s violations of Exchange Act Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder pursuant to Exchange Act Section 20(a)”.
While the SEC’s statement reminded the jury that Do Kwon owns 92% of TerraForm Labs stake, Do Kwon’s defense team argued that the SEC doesn’t have “credible first-hand knowledge” of the case, basing the argument on the fact that TerraForm Labs is headquartered in South Korea and Singapore.
The Moment of Truth for Do Kwon
According to the latest documents posted on the website of Montenegro’s High Court, the Montenegrin Justice Minister now has to make the decision regarding where Do Kwon heads next.
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Indeed, the crucial decision has two realistic implications: Terra’s founder could be repatriated to his home soil of South Korea or extradited to the United States, where he faces multiple counts of capital markets law violations, customer defrauding and artificially propping up cryptocurrency prices.
The SEC protested the jury’s decision right after the condemning evidence surfaced that Do Kwon did try his best to make the artificial transactions on Terra’s blockchain “indiscernible”. While the mind-blowing Slack chat backlog sent shockwaves through the crypto community, the outcome of this case is yet to be revealed.
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Ultimately, the Montenegrin Justice Minister is set to announce the direction of Do Kwon’s extradition later today. Even though South Korea has higher chances of getting the nod first, the official document also implies that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the United States has met the requirements of extradition, meaning the final decision is to be made by Montenegro’s Minister of Justice.
On The Flipside
- Do Kwon gave consent to be repatriated to the competent legal bodies of South Korea under a simplified procedure.
- TerraForm Labs defense attorneys had previously requested the court to drop the SEC’s case for lacking authority.
Why This Matters
Crypto traders affected by the Terra Luna crisis in May 2022 are seeking closure and possible reimbursement for the financial losses associated with Terra’s 2022 fiasco.
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