Do Kwon granted release from Montenegro prison
South Korean cryptocurrency fugitive Do Kwon was released from a Montenegro prison on Saturday, March 23, as the Supreme Court considers extradition requests from the United States and South Korea, Bloomberg reported. The Supreme Court halted proceedings to extradite the Terraform Labs co-founder to South Korea, suspending a lower court ruling.
Terra founder Kwon is reportedly currently facing fraud charges in both South Korea and the United States over the collapse of Terra Luna, which resulted in a loss of approximately $60 billion in market capitalization in 2022. Prison director Darko Vukcevic reportedly said by phone:
“We released Do Kwon because his regular sentence for traveling with forged documents had ended. Since he was a foreign citizen and his documents were withheld, he was taken to the Foreigners Police Station for an interview, They will deal with him further.”
The decision to release Kwon reportedly came from a Supreme Court committee that will review a decision that could approve or deny his extradition to South Korea. In South Korea, penalties are relatively light compared to the United States, where prosecutors sought to prosecute Kwon after the collapse of the TerraUSD algorithmic stablecoin he founded in 2022 resulted in $40 billion in losses.
Kwon's lawyer, Goran Rodic, also confirmed his release. Kwon's passport has been withheld to prevent him from leaving the country, state television reported. Kwon was transferred to a foreigners' shelter late Saturday, state television reported, citing Rodich, who said he planned to appeal to the courts to keep Kwon free pending an extradition ruling.
The Supreme Court's action came in response to a challenge from the Balkan country's attorney general, who cited procedural errors in the ruling in favor of South Korea's request. Extradition to either country is pending further court consideration, with no specific timetable given following Friday's announcement.
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