Montenegro's Supreme State Prosecutor is appealing recent court decisions to extradite Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon to his home country, South Korea. Montenegro currently faces opposing demands from South Korea and the United States, which both want to prosecute Kwon for the $40 billion collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin in 2022.
Earlier this week, the Montenegrin Court of Appeals supported decisions favoring South Korea for Do Kwon's extradition. However, the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office has since claimed procedural errors were made during the process, requiring the case to be referred to the country's Supreme Court.
The prosecution claims that both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court exceeded their authority by ruling on extradition, a right granted only to the Minister of Justice. This information was announced in a statement published on the prosecutor's website.
This latest development could pave the way for Kwon's extradition to the United States, a preference expressed by some Montenegrin government officials. In contrast, Kwon's defense team argues for his extradition to South Korea, where penalties for white-collar crimes are generally lower than in the United States.
Interestingly, even if Do Kwon is extradited to South Korea, the government there could make a deal with the United States to have Kwon tried in New York first.
Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 on the grounds that he was traveling with a fake passport along with his partner Han Chang-joon, who was handed over to South Korea last month.
*This is not investment advice.