There has been another twist in the tale in the tug-of-war between the US and South Korea over the extradition of Terraform Labs co-founder and former CEO Do Kwon.
In a translated statement on Thursday, Montenegro’s Supreme State Prosecutor poked holes in the extradition process, which was first approved by the High Court of Podgorica and then confirmed by the Court of Appeals. The top prosecutor called the proceedings “abbreviated” and said they exceeded the limits of the courts’ powers.
The decision to extradite Kwon should have been made solely by the country’s minister for justice, the Supreme State Prosecutor’s office said. This challenge means that the case will need to be escalated to the country’s Supreme Court.
The statement does not state Kwon’s full name, though it refers to him as a “citizen of South Korea” followed by his initials “K.D.H,” which is short for Kwon Do-heyong.
Kwon faces criminal charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for his role in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, as well as civil charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleging he spearheaded “a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud.”
In South Korea, Kwon faces similar charges from the authorities, but legal experts say that the former Terraform Labs CEO will likely face a much lighter sentence if he were to face trial in his native country.
In fact, a group of South Korean investors recently took to an online community to call for Kwon’s extradition to the US, highlighting the differences between the two country’s legal systems, saying that US prosecutors were more likely to hand out a harsh penalty.
The hold up on Kwon’s extradition is the latest development in a series of legal back and forth that has taken place over the last few months. Until Wednesday, Kwon’s extradition to South Korea seemed to be all but finalized after the appeals court rejected an appeal against the extradition filed by Kwon’s lawyers.
