Montenegro Court Annuls Extradition of Terraform Labs Co-Founder Do Kwon Again
Summary:
Montenegro's court has halted the extradition of Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon for the second time. The decision follows the appeal made by Kwon's defense lawyers, based on alleged procedural irregularities in the previous extradition ruling. This is another development in Kwon's ongoing extradition case, following Terra's collapse in 2022, which led to billions lost by investors. Former Terraform Labs CFO Han Chang-joon was extradited to South Korea earlier this month, while another co-founder, Daniel Shin, has implicated Kwon in fraud during his trial in South Korea.
Montenegro's court has once more put a stop to Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon's extradition, endorsing the appeal made by his defense lawyers. The appeal was approved in a panel meeting on February 7 by the Appellate Court of Montenegro, as stated in a court-issued announcement. This latest judgement overrules the earlier decision made by the High Court in Podgorica on December 29, 2023, and mandates a retrial at a lower court level. The Appellate Court argued that the prior extradition order had serious procedural irregularities due to the confusing phrasing of the decision.
Crucial details were absent from the decision and the provided explanations were obscure, leading to the need to reverse the order, as per the statement from the Appellate Court. This recent court decision is simply another chapter in the ongoing saga of Kwon’s extradition following the collapse of Terra in May 2022. Regulators in South Korea and the United States accuse Terraform Labs and its co-founder Kwon of masterminding a huge deceptive operation that led to billions of dollars lost for investors.
Kwon was captured in Montenegro in March 2023 when he tried to leave the country using counterfeit travel documents. As a South Korean citizen, Kwon was sought after not only in his home country but also in the USA. In December 2023, Montenegro's Appellate Court rescinded his extradition approval to either the USA or South Korea, arguing that the final call should rest with the justice minister of Montenegro.
In another development, former Terraform Labs CFO Han Chang-joon was extradited from Montenegro to South Korea on February 5. Meanwhile, in South Korea, Daniel Shin aka Shin Hyun-Seong, another founder of Terraform Labs, attributed the downfall of the platform to the "external attacks led by Do-hyung Kwon [Do Kwon]" during his trial on fraud charges.
Published At
2/8/2024 4:47:51 PM
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