Montenegro on Tuesday extradited to the United States Do Kwon, South Korean entrepreneur and founder of the Terra cryptocurrency, wanted by Seoul in connection with the bankruptcy of his company which cost several billion dollars.
Do Kwon was “handed over to the relevant law enforcement authorities of the United States of America and agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),” Montenegro’s Interior Ministry said in a statement. .
He was extradited by decision of the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro to respond to “criminal proceedings in the United States for crimes of conspiracy to commit fraud,” the ministry also indicates.
Appeal of the decision
For months, Seoul and Washington have sought the extradition of the South Korean, founder of the Terra cryptocurrency, over his alleged role in a fraud linked to the bankruptcy of his company, which wiped out around $40 billion of investors’ money and shook global cryptocurrency markets.
Last week, Montenegrin Justice Minister Bojan Bozovic issued a decision approving the extradition, after a year and a half of court rulings and reversals.
Do Kwon’s Montenegrin lawyers denounced the decision as contrary to European conventions on extradition, saying they will appeal to the country’s constitutional court and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Several months on the run
The cryptocurrency tycoon was arrested in March 2023 at the airport in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, as he prepared to board a flight to Dubai, in possession of a fake Costa Rican passport.
Before his arrest, he had been on the run for several months, fleeing South Korea and then Singapore, after his company collapsed in 2022.
>> Reread: South Korean founder of Terra cryptocurrency wanted by Interpol
Cryptocurrencies have come under increased scrutiny from regulators amid controversy in recent years.
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