US, South Korea Seek Terra Co-Founder Do Kwon’s Extradition

Both the U.S. and South Korea have requested the extradition of Terra co-founder Do Kwon, who was arrested last week, Montenegro authorities confirmed in a press conference today.

“We’d like to state that the extradition of Do-Hyung Kwon and [his associate] Han Chang Joon has been officially requested by South Korea from the ministry of justice of Montenegro, while the extradition of Do-Hyung Kwon has been also requested by the United States of America,” justice minister Marko Kovac said, speaking through an interpreter.

Kovac added in response to a question that Singapore has not yet officially submitted a request for extradition. If any other countries submit extradition requests, he said, the public will be informed in a timely manner.

Extradition proceedings will begin once local courts have dealt with the charges against Kwon and Joon for allegedly using forged passports, which they were trying to use to board a plane to Dubai when they were arrested.

Should they be sentenced for this charge, they would serve this before being extradited.

Because more than one country has asked for Do Kwon to be extradited, Kovac said that his fate would be decided by the courts, taking all of the circumstances into account.

“In the case when we receive several extradition requests, determining to which state they will be extradited is based on several factors like the severity of the committed criminal offense, the location and the time when the criminal offense has been committed, the order in which we have received the request for extradition and several other factors,” he said.

Do Kwon: a wanted man

South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon last September, following a criminal probe into the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. The project’s collapse had a knock-on effect on the whole crypto industry, contributing to the failure of firms including crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC).

The International criminal police organization later approved South Korea’s request to issue a red notice for Kwon, making him a wanted criminal worldwide.

U.S. federal prosecutors, meanwhile, charged Kwon with fraud last week just hours after he was arrested.

The whereabouts of Do Kwon had remained a mystery for several months following the collapse of the Terra ecosystem last May,

In September, South Korean authorities said Kwon was not in Singapore as they had previously thought.

A few months later, authorities suspected he was in Serbia, Montenegro’s neighbor. Kovac said Montenegrin authorities had not had any contact with their Serbian counterparts “up until now.”