The drama surrounding Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, has just reached a new peak. He is being shipped to the United States, facing charges that have put the crypto community on alert. Since March 2023, Kwon has been laying low in Montenegro, but it seems his stay is about to be cut short.
So, here’s the truth: a news article from Montenegro on February 21 revealed the truth. The big shots at the High Court of Podgorica decided, no, we won’t send him to South Korea; the United States is getting him. This happened after Kwon’s lawyers launched a Hail Mary, saying, “Hey, shouldn’t our Minister of Justice take the lead here?” But the court wasn’t having any of it.
When is Kwon flying to the United States? That’s the million-dollar question. After Terra’s downfall in May 2022, the man vanished off the radar and only resurfaced when Montenegro’s cops nabbed him in March 2023 for carrying fake travel documents. He’s been warming a cell for four months, dealing with all the extradition circus.
Now, for the juicy bits, you won’t find them anywhere else. The Montenegrin court said, “Do Kwon, the cryptography king, is headed to the United States because they want him for serious financial shenanigans,” according to Pobjeda. They cold-shouldered South Korea’s extradition request. The appellate court had to step in and ask top officials to make a call between South Korea and the United States.
Initially, the court thought, sure, we can extradite him, leaving Justice Minister Andrej Milović to decide who gets Kwon. But then, plot twist! The appellate court said, “Hold on. Milović only has a say on regular extradition matters. Kwon agreed to go, so let’s speed things up.”
Kwon’s lawyer, Goran Rodić, said, “Legally, he should first go to South Korea,” citing all sorts of legal jargon and treaties with the United States. But on the other hand, Milović was playing politics, hinting that the United States was their BFF country and wanting to tighten extradition treaty obligations.
Let’s not forget the drama at Podgorica airport last March 23rd. Kwon and his friend, Hon Chang Joon, were arrested while trying to travel to Dubai with fake Costa Rican passports. Cops also found Belgian travel papers on them. In court, they claimed ignorance, saying they got these passports through a Singapore agency and had no idea they were fake. Kwon even claimed to have spotted errors in the Belgian passports but never used them because they trusted the agency too much after the approval of their Costa Rican passport application.
That’s the scoop. Kwon’s extradition saga is more complex than last year’s Christmas lights, but it seems the United States is ready to unravel it. Let’s see how it plays out.
