Crypto mogul Kwon's appeal against extradition verdict rejected

Rome, Dec 25: Montenegro's Constitutional Court has dismissed an appeal lodged by South Korean crypto mogul Do Kwon over a verdict on his extradition, a report said. In a unanimous decision, the Constitutional Court rejected the appeal that Kwon lodged, citing legal issues, according to the Montenegro daily Vijesti. With the latest decision, the European country's justice minister is set to decide on whether Kwon will face trial at home or in the United States, reports Yonhap news agency.

Kwon appears more likely to be extradited to the U.S., given the justice ministry's stance on the case. Kwon, co-founder of the cryptocurrency firm Terraform Labs, is wanted both by South Korea and the U.S., where he faces investigation and indictment on charges connected to the crash of the firm's TerraUSD and Luna coins in May 2022.

He was arrested in Montenegro in March last year after being caught traveling on a fake passport. In August this year, Montenegro’s highest court postponed an earlier decision on the extradition of South Korean crypto entrepreneur Do Kwon to his home country in connection with a massive cryptocurrency crash. Previously, a Montenegrin appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling to hand over Kwon to South Korea, rejecting a request to send him to the United States instead.

However, the Supreme Court announced on its website that Kwon's extradition to South Korea has been postponed pending a decision on a legal request by prosecutors. Kwon, co-founder of the cryptocurrency firm Terraform Labs, is wanted by both South Korea and the U.S. The disgraced tycoon is under suspicion of fraud and other charges related to the crash of the firm's TerraUSD and Luna coins in 2022, which devastated investors around the world.