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WASHINGTON/ROME, March 20 (Yonhap) – The Balkan nation of Montenegro’s appeals court on Wednesday ruled to extradite Do Kwon, co-founder of cryptocurrency company Terraform Labs, to his native South Korea.
In a statement on its website, the court said it rejected an appeal by Kwon’s legal representatives and upheld an earlier ruling by the country’s high court to extradite Kwon to South Korea rather than the United States.
South Korean prosecutors are seeking Kwon’s extradition on a series of charges related to the collapse of Terraform Labs’ TerraUSD and Luna coins in May 2022. The collapse is estimated to have wiped out nearly 50 trillion won (US$37 billion) in market value.
Kwon is also wanted by the United States and has been indicted on fraud charges by federal prosecutors in New York.
Kwon’s extradition could take place as soon as this weekend, when his prison sentence in Montenegro for using forged documents expires, according to Bloomberg.
He was arrested at a Montenegrin airport in March last year as he tried to board a flight to the United Arab Emirates with a fake passport. He was on the run after fleeing South Korea during an investigation related to a cryptocurrency scandal.
TerraUSD was designed as a stablecoin pegged to a stable asset like the US dollar. However, TerraUSD and Luna holders lost most of their assets as the stablecoins fell well below the $1 peg.
This file photo taken on June 16, 2023 and provided by the Montenegro-based daily Bigesti shows disgraced South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon accused of using cryptocurrencies. He is pictured heading to the district court in Montenegro’s capital Podgorica to attend his trial. fake passport. (Photo not for sale) (Yonhap News)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
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