US "Continuing to Pursue Kwon Do-hyung in India"..."Concerns Over South Korea's Lenient Punishment"

US Department of Justice Expresses Intent to Extradite Kwon Do-hyung

The Montenegrin court reversed its initial decision and ruled to extradite Kwon Do-hyung, a key figure in the 'Terra·Luna' incident, to South Korea, while the U.S. Department of Justice stated that it will continue to pursue Kwon's extradition to the United States.

In a statement released that day, the U.S. Department of Justice said, "The United States continues to seek the extradition of Kwon Do-hyung in accordance with relevant international and bilateral agreements and Montenegrin law," adding, "The United States looks forward to the cooperation of Montenegrin authorities to ensure that all individuals are subject to the rule of law."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The local appellate court on the 7th (local time) overturned the original ruling, stating, "The South Korean Ministry of Justice requested extradition by English email on March 24 of last year, three days earlier than the United States." Bloomberg News described the Montenegrin High Court's decision as a victory for Kwon. Kwon's lawyers had also strongly demanded extradition to South Korea instead of the United States, where the sentence would be harsher.

Cryptocurrency industry lawyers closely monitoring the case have raised doubts about the Montenegrin court's decision to extradite CEO Kwon to South Korea, the news agency reported. Terence Yang, Executive Director of Swan Bitcoin and a former Merrill Lynch attorney, said, "The Montenegrin court's decision to extradite Kwon Do-hyung to South Korea, where he might face a light sentence unimaginable in the United States, is absurd."

The judicial authorities of both countries are engaged in a tug-of-war over securing Kwon's custody, which is also believed to be driven by practical reasons to locate his hidden assets and prioritize compensating their own country's victims. The global investor losses from the 2022 Terra·Luna crash are reported to exceed 50 trillion won. It is estimated that there are 280,000 investors in South Korea, with damages amounting to 300 billion won.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil lawsuit in February last year against Kwon and Terraform Labs, accusing them of organizing a multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency securities fraud. One month later, the New York federal prosecutors indicted him on eight charges including fraud and market manipulation. Sam Bankman-Fried was also brought to trial in the Manhattan federal court in New York on similar charges.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.