South Korea’s criminal extradition request was faster than the U.S.
The possibility has arisen that the extradition of Terraform Labs CEO Kwon Do-hyung (more commonly known as Do Kwon), which was expected to be to the U.S., may now be to South Korea.
On March 5th (local time), the Montenegrin Court of Appeals accepted Kwon’s appeal, invalidated the U.S. extradition decision of the High Court in Podgorica, and announced that the case was sent back to the original court.
The Court of Appeals stated, “(The High Court) committed a serious violation of the criminal procedure law clause,” and “There is no clear and valid basis for the decision on who submitted the extradition request for the criminal first, between Korea and the U.S.,” as the reason for the verdict.
On the 20th of last month, the High Court in Podgorica ruled that Kwon should be extradited to the U.S., citing that the official letter of the U.S. criminal extradition request arrived a day ahead of South Korea on March 27th last year.
However, the Court of Appeals saw a problem with this High Court’s judgment. It was revealed that the South Korean Ministry of Justice had electronically sent the criminal extradition request for Kwon in English on March 24th last year, earlier than the U.S., and in Montenegrin via email two days later.
Previously, Kwon’s side had appealed, citing that South Korea’s criminal extradition request was faster and that his nationality is Korean, which was accepted.
After Kwon’s arrest, the Montenegrin court sentenced him to four months in prison last June on charges of passport forgery. This sentence ends this month, and Kwon’s extended detention period also ends on the 22nd of this month.
Kwon’s stay in Montenegro could also be extended. In 2014, the South Korean government requested the extradition of Yoo Sum-na, the eldest daughter of Yoo Byung-eon, the former chairman of Semo Group and a Sewolho disaster-related figure, from France. However, Yoo delayed the extradition by refusing to be extradited through a human rights court lawsuit and was extradited to South Korea about three years later.
The scale of damage to global investors due to the Terra-Luna crash in 2022 is estimated to exceed $35 billion.
Korean and U.S. prosecutors plan to bring Kwon to trial on charges of fraud and securities law violations. Kwon, a co-founder of Terraform Labs operating Terra and Luna, went into hiding in Singapore in April 2022 when the incident broke out.
He then moved to Montenegro via the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Serbia and was caught at a local airport last March trying to board a private jet to Dubai with a fake passport.
The U.S. imposes heavy sentences for economic crimes. Bernard Madoff, former chairman of the NASDAQ Stock Exchange, who committed a $65 billion fraud against some 37,000 investors, was sentenced to 150 years in 2009. Former chairman of Stanford International Group, Allen Stanford, who faced charges of $7 billion in financial fraud, was also sentenced to 110 years in 2012.
It is speculated that Kwon, fearing a heavy sentence if extradited to the U.S., is focusing on extradition to South Korea, which is lenient on fraud crimes.
Most Commented