The Montenegro appeals court has thrown out a November decision by the country’s high court that the legal conditions for the former Terra CEO’s extradition had been met.
A court in Montenegro has canceled the extradition approval of Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon to either the United States or South Korea.
On Dec. 14, the Appellate Court of Montenegro ruled to annul the decision of the High Court of Podgorica approving Kwon’s extradition to either the U.S. or South Korea, according to an official announcement on Dec. 19.
The High Court of Podgorica previously determined the legal requirements for Kwon’s extradition in November 2023, leaving the final decision on Kwon’s extradition to Montenegro’s minister of justice.
According to the latest decision by the appeals court, Kwon’s defense has successfully appealed that decision, and the case should be returned to the Podgorica Basic Court for retrial.
The panel of the Appellate Court specifically assessed that the previous decision by the High Court of Podgorica was affected by a “significant violation of the provisions” of Montenegro’s Criminal Procedure Code. The latest statement reads:
“[…] Violation is reasonably indicated by the appeal of the defendant’s defense attorneys, because the decision does not have reasons for decisive facts, and the reasons given are unclear, which is the reason for its cancellation.”
Kwon is a co-founder and former CEO of Terraform Labs, a company behind the Terra blockchain, known for its Terra stablecoin and the associated Luna token, which collapsed in May 2022. According to the United States Security and Exchange Commission, Terraform Labs and its co-founder Kwon orchestrated a fraudulent scheme that led to losing at least $40 billion of market value.
Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 after attempting to use falsified travel documents to leave the country. Both the U.S. and South Korea requested Kwon’s extradition shortly, while some prosecutors suggested that the Terraform Labs co-founder could be subject to multiple sentences in both countries.
Another Terraform co-founder, Daniel Shin, was also accused of defrauding investors. Shin argued that he left Terraform in 2020 “for business reasons” and had nothing to do with the collapse during a trial before the Seoul Southern District Court in South Korea in October 2023.
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