Montenegro Justice Minister signs Do Kwon extradition to the US

Montenegro will extradite Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon to the United States, according to the latest news around the topic.

On Dec. 27, reports in local news outlets said the development follows an approval for Do Kwon’s extradition by the Montenegrin Justice Minister Bojan Božović. Božović signed the Terraform Labs’ founders’ extradition to the United States a day after Montenegro’s Constitutional Court rejected Do Kwon constitutional appeal.

Do Kwon appeal quashed

With the court’s decision, the decision on whether the Terraform Labs founder was to be extradited to South Korea or the US remained in the hands of the country’s Minister of Justice.

In his appeal, Kwon claimed the extradition process was unfair and suffered from errors in terms of legal interpretation. The challenge however did not sway the Constitutional Court, with the decision to reject the appeal opening up the final chapter for his extradition.

South Korean Kwon has been under investigation from both the United States and South Korean law enforcement since the collapse of TerraUSD and Luna. The crypto projects imploded in May 2022 to wipe out over $40 billion in value from the crypto market. A contagion that followed swallowed multiple companies, including crypto lenders.

Kwon went into hiding, with his arrest in March 2023 in Montenegro setting off the long running extradition process.

Terraform Labs agreed a $4.5 billion settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2024, with the CEO noting that the project was ceasing its operations.