Terra Luna Founder Do Kwon to Stay in Custody Amid South Korea's Extradition Request
Do Kwon, the founder of failed blockchain project Terra, could stay in custody for up to six months while Montenegro's courts consider an extradition request from South Korea.
On Thursday, a Montenegro court extended Kwon's stay in custody for an additional six months as he awaits trial for possible extradition, according to a report by local media outlet Radio Free Europe.
The disgraced crypto boss has been in jail in Montenegro since late March when he was arrested for allegedly using forged travel documents.
"The judge of the Higher Court ordered the six months detention, as there is an extradition case opened in front of this court at the request of South Korea," Marija Rakovic, a speaker for the Higher Court, told to reporters.
The decision comes after a high court announcement on the approval of bail for a case involving document forgery. Kwon's bail request was approved after a previous rejection by the same court.
Before his arrest, Kwon had been on the run from authorities for months, fleeing first South Korea and then Singapore ahead of the company's crash in May last year.
After his arrest was confirmed, Kwon was charged with eight counts of fraud in New York, which include two counts each of securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud, and conspiracy.
US prosecutors alleged that Kwon made a series of false and misleading statements during a TV interview about the extent to which the Terra blockchain had been adopted by users.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also sued Terraform Labs and CEO Kwon for allegedly orchestrating a multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency fraud.
The commission said that Terraform and Kwon raised billions of dollars from investors during the period between 2018 to May 2022
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