According to an International Business Times report, Montenegro’s Supreme Court decided to extend the detention of TerraForm Labs founder and CEO Do Kwon until February 2024, following extradition requests from the United States and South Korea.
Closed-Door Discussions Reveal Montenegro’s Plan For Do Kwon
Initially set to be extradited to the US on December 15, Do Kwon’s fate turned when the Montenegrin High Court ruled to prolong his stay until February 15, 2024.
The decision stems from charges related to the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin, which led to significant financial losses.
The High Court had previously ordered Kwon’s extradition by Friday, but his defense team appealed the decision in the appellate court in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro.
The Montenegrin Court of Appeal confirmed that Kwon contested the High Court’s ruling, vehemently stating, “I do not submit to the court’s decision.”
Recent reports indicate that Montenegro’s Justice Minister, Andrej Milovic, had already privately determined the destination for Kwon’s extradition, with the United States being the likely choice.
According to the International Business Times report, this detail emerged during closed-door discussions, including a meeting with US Ambassador to Montenegro, Judy Rising Reinke.
Terra Founder’s Multinational Legal Battles
Do Kwon faces legal battles in multiple countries, including the United States, and Singapore. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other government agencies have charged him with various criminal counts, ranging from wire fraud and commodities fraud to securities fraud and conspiracy to defraud and engage in market manipulation.
Prosecutors in the US have further accused him of orchestrating a massive cryptocurrency fraud, resulting in losses exceeding $40 billion in investments.
Kwon has consistently denied all allegations of fraud and has even refuted claims of being a fugitive. Last year, Do Kwon was arrested on March 24 at Montenegrin International Airport for illegally possessing forged travel documents.
The crypto mogul co-founded Terra, a blockchain protocol and payment platform known for algorithmic stablecoins, in 2018. However, the de-pegging of TerraUSD (UST) from the US dollar in May 2021 caused a market downturn, affecting the ecosystem’s native cryptocurrency, LUNC.
The fate of Do Kwon hangs in uncertainty as the legal proceedings continue. It remains to be seen how the prosecutors from the United States and South Korea will respond to the latest decision by the Montenegro High Court, and what the next steps will be for Do Kwon’s legal team.
Today, the price of LUNC stands at $0.00017303, accompanied by a 24-hour trading volume of $144,797,727.05, according to data provided by CoinGecko.
Despite experiencing a modest 0.81% price increase in the last 24 hours, Terra has witnessed a significant decrease of -17.17% in the past 7 days.
With a notable amount of 5.8 trillion LUNA in circulation, Terra’s market capitalization currently stands at $1,012,393,251.
Featured image from Bloomberg, chart from TradingView.com