A Montenegro courtroom’s current ruling for the extradition of cryptocurrency entrepreneur Kwon Do-hyung, popularly referred to as “crypto king” Do Kwon, to america has intensified world scrutiny over his alleged involvement in inflicting vital losses within the cryptocurrency market.
Regardless of Kwon’s protection advocating for extradition to his native South Korea, the Montenegro courtroom has rebuffed these appeals. Each america and South Korea have sought Kwon’s extradition, marking a authorized battle with far-reaching implications.
Kwon’s authorized crew now has a quick window of three days to contest the choice, with the ultimate verdict resting with the appeals courtroom, leaving the date for his extradition unsure.
The South Korean nationwide, and former CEO of Terraform Labs, faces prices in a number of jurisdictions for purportedly inflicting roughly $40 billion in losses to the cryptocurrency market, impacting quite a few buyers worldwide.
In South Korea, Kwon’s choice for prosecution stems from the disparity in potential sentences. Whereas financial crimes in South Korea carry a most sentence of 40 years, in america, the place sentences for particular person crimes accumulate, Kwon might probably face a cumulative sentence exceeding 100 years.
At the moment dealing with eight prices associated to numerous types of fraud filed by federal prosecutors in New York, Kwon’s case evokes comparisons to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried, indicted in December 2022 on seven prices following FTX’s collapse, acquired convictions on all counts, with sentencing scheduled for March, probably dealing with over 110 years in jail.
Kwon’s authorized woes escalated in March 2023 when he was apprehended at Podgorica airport alongside Han Chang-joon, Terraform Labs’ former finance officer, trying to board a personal jet to Dubai utilizing a pretend Costa Rican passport. Han has since been extradited to South Korea and indicted.
Along with legal trials in america, the Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) has filed a civil case in opposition to Kwon and Terraform Labs for securities fraud linked to the collapse of TerraUSD and Luna.
The Montenegrin courtroom’s resolution has heightened the prospect of Kwon dealing with the SEC’s fraud lawsuit, scheduled for trial on March 25. A loss on this civil trial might topic Kwon to substantial fines, including additional complexity to his authorized predicament.