Do Kwon, former CEO of Terraform Labs, which acted as a parent company of Terra (LUNA), might soon face justice after spending months on the run before incarceration in Montenegro.
Previously this year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Terraform Labs and Kwon of orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto fraud, explicitly involving an algorithmic stablecoin and other securities.
The SEC asserts that Terra and Kwon portrayed cryptocurrencies as securities to investors, characterizing the entire Terra ecosystem as an intricate fraud orchestrated by multiple collaborators.
Kwon faces charges primarily related to securities fraud, conducting an unregistered securities offering, and additional securities violations. Simultaneously, amid the SEC charges, the agency alleges that he cashed out more than 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC) from Terra.
Arrest in Montenegro and possible extradition
After being arrested in March this year while trying to enter Montenegro with falsified documents and consequently being sentenced to four months in jail, Do Kwon now faces the prospect of answering for his crimes that led to an international chase.
The court in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, has approved the extradition of Terra founder Do Kwon to either South Korea or the United States, as indicated in a recent update on the judiciary’s website on November 24.
Following a four-month prison sentence in Montenegro for document forgery, the ultimate decision regarding the extradition will rest with the Montenegrin Justice Minister, as stated in the update.
In recent weeks, the Montenegro High Court affirmed the four-month prison sentence for Kwon and his associate Han Chang-Joon on charges of document falsification. Their appeal was dismissed, and the court deemed the sentence fitting. Kwon now faces the possibility of extradition to South Korea or the United States.
