According to a Montenegrin lawyer, Do Kwon, founder of Terraform Labs, must first stand trial in Montenegro for traveling under a false passport before extradition The country’s Minister of Justice has said that he must be extradited to Montenegro. The country’s Justice Minister noted that the fugitive crypto entrepreneur may also have to serve time in prison before he can be extradited from the Balkan country.
Do Kwon, an alleged South Korean crypto fraudster, remains in the Balkans for now, authorities said
Kwon Do-Hyung, better known as Do Kwon, CEO of the company that developed the crashed stablecoin terrausd and cryptocurrency luna, is to stand trial in Montenegro. He was arrested there on March 23 after attempting to leave for Dubai using a fake Costa Rican passport.
Montenegrin lawyer Vojislav Zečević told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency on Tuesday that the charges of using forged personal documents by the co-founder of Terraform Labs “must be completed first” before extradition to another country.
Both the South Korean and U.S. governments are seeking Kwon’s extradition. However, the prosecutor investigating the case was quoted as saying Monday that the procedure would take time because Montenegro’s judicial authorities intend to prosecute him.
Zečević further stated that he intends to appeal the court order extending Kwon’s pretrial detention. The Korean was initially arrested for 72 hours, but the local court extended this measure to 30 days, citing the risk of escape and the need for identification.
Kwon’s lawyer insists that the passport is legitimate, but Bloomberg reports that a forged Belgian passport was also found in his luggage. Meanwhile, Montenegrin Interior Minister Filip Azic revealed that investigators found three of Kwon’s laptops and five cell phones, which contained a lot of “very interesting” information.
Bloomberg quoted Montenegrin Justice Minister Marko Kovac as saying that a judge will decide whether Do Kwon will be extradited to the United States or South Korea. He also stressed that if Kwon is convicted of traveling with forged documents, he may have to serve time in a small European country first.
Kovatch elaborated Wednesday that the suspect’s “seriousness of the crime, the location of the crime, the order of the requests, and nationality will be considered. “Kwon was arrested along with another man, identified as Han Chang-joon, Terraform’s chief financial officer.
Image Credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons.