PODGORICA – Montenegro on Tuesday extradited a South Korean mogul known as “the cryptocurrency king” to the United States, following a call of its justice ministry earlier this month to just accept a U.S. request, whereas refusing a South Korean handover plea, the Balkan nation’s authorities stated.
Police stated that officers of the Nationwide Central Bureau of Interpol in Montenegro handed over Do Kwon, the founder of the Singapore crypto firm Terraform Labs, to FBI officers on the Podgorica Airport border crossing.
“As we speak, on December 31, 2024, he (Do Kwon) was handed over to the competent legislation enforcement authorities of the USA of America and brokers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),” a police assertion stated.
The transfer follows a months-long authorized saga within the case of Do Kwon. Each South Korea and the U.S. had requested Do Kwon’s extradition, and varied courts in Montenegro over the previous months had introduced and overturned a number of rulings to extradite Kwon both to the U.S. or his native nation.
He and another South Korean were arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 whereas attempting to depart for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, utilizing pretend Costa Rican passports. Kwon has served a jail time period in Montenegro for utilizing a pretend passport.
Kwon was charged within the U.S. with fraud by federal prosecutors in New York over a $40 billion crash of Terraform Labs’ cryptocurrency, which devastated retail traders around the globe.
Kwon and 5 others related to Terraform had been wished on allegations of fraud and monetary crimes in relation to the implosion of its digital currencies in Could 2022.
TerraUSD was designed as a “stablecoin,” a foreign money that’s pegged to steady property just like the greenback to stop drastic fluctuations in costs. Nevertheless, round $40 billion in market worth was erased for the holders of TerraUSD and its floating sister foreign money, Luna, after the stablecoin plunged far beneath its $1 peg.
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