Montenegro Supreme Court overturns decision on Do Kwon's extradition as NY civil case continues

The Supreme Court of Montenegro overturned a decision made by the lower courts concerning the extradition of Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon to the U.S. or South Korea. 

Kwon's extradition has been going back and forth for months. The Supreme Court said the law requires the minister of justice to make the decision, not the court, in a press release on Friday. This comes after Kwon was set to be extradited to South Korea last month, followed by court reversals and appeals by the former executive. 

Kwon, who is facing criminal charges in both the U.S. and South Korea, was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 for using a counterfeit passport while attempting to exit the country. 

Between the U.S. and South Korea, his lawyers have reportedly preferred his home country, where the maximum sentence for financial criminals typically ranges from 30 to 40 years, less than in the U.S. 

Montenegro's government plans to approve extradition to the U.S., a person close to the matter told Bloomberg in late February. 

In New York

Meanwhile, a civil case involving the Securities and Exchange Commission is forging ahead without Kwon in New York. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Terraform and Kwon in February 2023 over the algorithmic stablecoin Terra USD, which collapsed dramatically in 2022. 

The SEC said Terraform and Kwon misled investors about the stability of Terra USD. One example includes Kwon and his team's claim that a Korean payments company called Chai was using the Terraform blockchain to settle millions of transactions. The SEC had said that wasn't true. 

Closing arguments are being held and a verdict is expected as soon as Friday afternoon, according to reporting from Coinage.