According to reports, the Supreme Court Council made the decision to free Kwon. The Council will now consider a judgement that might approve or disapprove his extradition to South Korea.
Do Kwon, a cryptofugitive from South Korea, was freed from prison in Montenegro while the Supreme Court considered requests for extradition from both South Korea and the United States.
He was freed on Saturday, March 23, according to a report from Bloomberg. The Supreme Court suspended the decision of a lower court and stopped the extradition of the co-founder of Terraform Labs to South Korea.
The Terra founder, Kwon, is currently dealing with claims of fraud in both South Korea and the United States related to the Terra Luna collapse, which caused the market value to drop by around $60 billion in 2022. Darko Vukcevic, the jail director, allegedly stated over the phone:
“Do Kwon’s regular prison sentence for travelling with forged documents ended, and we freed him from custody. Due to his foreign citizenship and the withholding of his documents, he was brought for an interview to the police directorate for foreigners, where he will now be handled.
The Supreme Court Council, which is scheduled to consider a judgement that might approve or reject Kwon’s extradition to his home South Korea, is said to have made the decision to free him. In contrast to the United States, where Kwon is being prosecuted for the $40 billion collapse of the TerraUSD algorithmic stablecoin in 2022, the sanctions in South Korea are much less severe.
Kwon’s release was also confirmed by his attorney, Goran Rodic. State TV claims that Kwon’s passport has been withheld in order to keep him from departing the nation. According to state TV, which cited Rodic, Kwon was moved later on Saturday to a foreigner’s shelter. Rodic said he intended to file an appeal with a court to keep Kwon free until an extradition decision was made.
The Balkan nation’s chief prosecutor challenged the Supreme Court’s decision, pointing to procedural flaws in the rulings that supported South Korea’s request. The Supreme Court ultimately decided to grant the request. Beyond the notification on Friday, no specific timeframe was given for the court’s discussions over extradition to either nation.
Eight felony charges filed by prosecutors in March 2023 would probably be brought against the co-founder of Terraform Labs if he were extradited to the US. The former chief financial officer of Terraform Labs, Han Chang-joon, was Kwon’s colleague who was detained in Montenegro in March 2023 for using forged travel documents.
Although there has been no definitive ruling, authorities from South Korea and the United States have submitted opposing extradition requests to prosecute Kwon for fraud in their respective nations.