IANS | 25 Nov, 2023
A court in Montenegro has approved extradition of Do Kwon, the
cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind the crash of two digital currencies
(TerraUSD and Luna), to either South Korea or the US.
Kwon was arrested in the country in March after being caught at the airport with fake documents.
The
final decision on the extradition will be made by the Montenegrin
Justice Minister, after Kwon serves a four-month prison sentence in
Montenegro for document forgery, reports CoinDesk.
Kwon faces multiple counts of fraud charged by US federal prosecutors, in addition to an ongoing investigation in South Korea.
Kwon,
32, who was behind cryptocurrencies that suffered a multi-billion
dollar crash last year, and his chief financial officer, identified only
by his surname Han, were arrested at Podgorica Airport on March 23
after attempting to travel to Dubai with forged passports.
In
June, a Montenegro court sentenced Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform
Labs, and his aide to four months in prison on charges of using fake
passports.
The duo had been on the run after fleeing South Korea
while under a probe in connection with the crash of Terraform Labs'
TerraUSD and Luna coins, which wiped out nearly 50 trillion won ($38
billion) in market value.
South Korean prosecutors sought an
arrest warrant for Kwon over allegations that included providing false
information to investors and violation of the capital market law.
Interpol
also issued a red notice, used for the highest level of wanted suspects
and criminals. Kwon's passport has since been invalidated.
TerraUSD
was designed as a stablecoin, which was pegged to stable assets, like
the US dollar. But holders of TerraUSD and Luna lost more than an
estimated $40 billion in market value after the stablecoin plunged far
below its $1 peg last May.
