Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, is not expected to be extradited to the US in March. This is related to a case involving the American Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was filed against him. Do Kwon is currently still in prison in Montenegro.
Do Kwon’s extradition to the United States is delayed
The SEC accuses Do Kwon of violating U.S. securities laws by issuing unregistered securities. Do Kwon was the CEO of Terraform Labs. The crypto company was founded in 2018 and specializes in the development of the Terra (LUNA) blockchain. Until the collapse of TerraUSD and Luna, Do Kwon was a major player in the cryptocurrency world.
Kwon has always denied the allegations and claims that Terraform Labs’ activities are fully in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
Now he will be handed over to the American authorities. However, his lawyers say this will not happen in time. David Patton of Kaplan Hecker & Fink says it is unlikely Do Kwon will be extradited from Montenegro before the end of March.
His lawyers stated: “Kwon will likely not be present, or at least unable to attend, at least at the start of the trial, which is scheduled to begin on March 25, 2024,” Patton said. “We are simply providing this information as a status update to the court. We will not seek a postponement of the trial date, regardless of the timing of Mr. Kwon’s final extradition.”
Last week it was announced that Do Kwon would be extradited. The infamous founder of the Terra network has been stuck in Montenegro since March last year. There he and his ex-colleague Han Chang Joon were arrested for traveling with fake documents.
Lawyer Do Kwon is not happy with the Supreme Court
The lawyer representing Do Kwon in Montenegro, Goran Rodic, said he disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision. According to Rodic, the decision to extradite Do Kwon was “based on false information.” According to the lawyer, this is because the case involved extradition to South Korea and not to America.
“We appealed the Supreme Court’s decision of February 21, 2024, because the Supreme Court’s decision to order his extradition to the United States was unlawful,” Rodic explained. “The ‘Summary’ trial has taken much longer than we originally expected due to the numerous unforeseen errors made by the lower court. At this time, I do not expect Mr. Kwon to be extradited – either to South Korea or the United States – before the end of March.”
He even scored a victory in court earlier this year, which was somewhat unexpected. Do Kwon was then able to postpone his extradition to the USA. The Montenegrin court decided to review his extradition case, which caused some delay for the Terra CEO.