By James Davis
Do Kwon Set to be Extradicted
Earlier today, a Montenegro-based court approved the extradition of Terra founder Do Kwon. However, whether the fallen crypto guru will be extradited to South Korea or the United States has yet to be determined.
Per the update published on the court’s official website, Kwon’s extradition is set to proceed after Montenegro’s Justice Minister makes a final decision on which country the culprit will be transferred to. Before being extradited, Kwon is expected to serve a four-month jail term in Montenegro. The sentencing came after he was found guilty of document forgery.
Since his arrest earlier this year, Kwon has found himself in a tough jurisdictional battle involving his home country, South Korea, and the US. South Korean prosecutors have been trying to persuade Montenegro authorities to have Kwon extradited to his motherland, arguing that it would be good for Terra victims.
Why Dan Sung-han Believes Kwon Should be Extradicted to South Korea
Dan Sung-han, who is heading the team probing Kwon’s case, says transferring the suspect to South Korea is the right move since Kwon’s accomplices and most of the victims live in his home country.
Sung-han describes the collapse of the Terra ecosystem as a systemic crime. Kwon faces charges of market manipulation, fraud, and bribery. According to Sung-han, the Terra co-founder could serve the longest sentence for financial crimes in South Korean history.
In the United States, federal prosecutors have accused Kwon of committing fraud. Moreover, the Securities and Exchange Commission also brought a civil lawsuit against the Terra co-founder a few months ago.
However, Kwon’s attorneys recently filed a petition to dismiss the Commission’s lawsuit, arguing that their client’s stablecoin UST was a currency, not a security.
The Terra Downfall
Before his arrest, Kwon went hiding after his crypto project collapsed, causing crypto investors to lose over $40 billion. The downfall of the Terra ecosystem led to a marketwide contagion, which left numerous blockchain-based companies fighting to keep their businesses afloat. Eventually, several of them filed for bankruptcy.
The Terra collapse also marked the start of a bear market, which seems to have ended in recent weeks following interest in Bitcoin from leading asset managers like BlackRock.