Montenegro decides to extradite the "cryptocurrency king" to the US

2024-12-27 19:29:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Montenegro has decided to extradite to the United States the South Korean citizen Hyeong Do Kwon, who was arrested in Podgorica about two years ago.

Do Kwon is wanted by the United States and South Korea and risks facing the law in Singapore as well.

Courts in Montenegro have issued at least eight rulings, often contradictory, regarding Do Kwon's fate.

In September, the Supreme Court of Montenegro said that Do Kwon could be sent to either the United States or South Korea, and that the final decision on which country rests with Justice Minister Bojan Bozovi?.

On December 24, Do Kwon lost his final appeal to the Constitutional Court of Montenegro against extradition.

The Ministry of Justice of Montenegro said in a statement that it decided to extradite him to the US, taking into account all the facts and evaluating the conditions, such as the gravity of the criminal offenses, the place of their commission, the order of submission of the request, the citizenship of wanted, the possibility of further extradition to another country.

"Most of the criteria are in favor of the request for extradition to the United States, and the Minister of Justice has issued a decision allowing extradition to the United States, while at the same time refusing extradition to the Republic of [South] Korea," it said. notification.

Do Kwon and his business partner, Chang Jun, were arrested in Montenegro on March 23, 2023, when they tried to travel to Dubai on a private flight using forged passports.

Kwon was then sentenced to four months in prison for forging travel documents. Chang Yun was extradited to South Korea earlier this year.

In October, Do Kwon claimed that South Korea's accusations were illegal and "politically motivated."

Do Kwon's trial took place in absentia in the United States, where a New York jury on April 5 found him and Terraform Labs liable on civil fraud charges, agreeing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). that they had defrauded investors.

Terraform Labs agreed to pay about $4.5 billion in a civil settlement with the SEC after the court ruling. Do Kwon was ordered to pay $204 million./REL