The United States government is set to continue its fight for the extradition of Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon to the country after a Montenegrin court ordered the deportation of the crypto mogul to his home nation, South Korea.
According to a Bloomberg report, prosecutors in the U.S. are hellbent on making Kwon face charges for his role in the $40 billion collapse of the TerraLuna ecosystem in May 2022.
“The United States continues to seek Kwon’s extradition in accordance with relevant international and bilateral agreements and Montenegrin law. The United States appreciates the cooperation of the Montenegrin authorities in ensuring that all individuals are subject to the rule of law,” stated the Department of Justice.
The Justice Department’s resolve comes as the Appellate Court of Montenegro overturned a previous ruling by a high court to extradite the former Terraform Labs CEO to the U.S., citing significant violations of the provisions of criminal procedure.
Kwon’s extradition story is filled with twists and turns. The appeal court’s latest decision is the third win his legal team has bagged regarding his extradition to the U.S. or South Korea. Kwon initially won two appeals against a Montenegrin high court’s decision in favor of the extradition requests in December and February on the grounds of incorrect applications of legal provisions of the extradition procedures.
Following the latest ruling, the National Police Agency of South Korea has asked Interpol for support in extrading Kwon to the country. Interpol has yet to respond.
Kwon’s extradition to South Korea is seen as a win for him because it is believed he could flex his connections in the country and land a lighter sentence, which would not be the case if he were sent to the U.S. These speculations are also substantiated by his lawyers expressing a preference for the former crypto executive to be extradited to his home country.
Nonetheless, Kwon will inevitably face the wrath of the law in the U.S., probably after serving his sentence in South Korea.
This series of events unfolded roughly two years after Terra’s collapse because Kwon went into hiding following the ecosystem implosion. However, he was eventually arrested at a Montenegro airport for traveling with fake documents.