After the collapse of Terra in May 2022, founder and former CEO of South Korea-based Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, went on the run with his associate Han Chang-joon. The two were arrested by Montenegrin authorities in March for travelling with falsified documents. Do Kwon was sentenced this June to four months in prison for using fake passports. The court denied his appeal in November.
Meanwhile, South Korea and the U.S. have both been seeking the extradition of Kwon from Montenegro, threatening him with significantly stricter sentencing for multiple counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, violation of public offering, market manipulation, and more.
On November 24, the court of Montenegro said that it had approved the extradition of Do Kwon. According to the statement, the legal prerequisites for his extradition were met at the request of both the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the U.S.
Do Kwon has already given consent to extradite him to South Korea under a simplified procedure. But the final ruling is to be made by the Montenegran Minister of Justice, who will decide which country has priority in this case. This decision will be made after Do Kwon finishes his current sentence.
It is unclear which option would be better for Do Kwon, as both countries have a full hand of allegations and a clear desire to publicly punish him. Dan Sunghan, a senior South Korean prosecutor heading the investigation, has said that Kwon’s extradition to South Korea made more sense “when it comes to bringing justice or recovering the damages for victims.”
However, he has also stated that it is possible Do Kwon will be sentenced in both jurisdictions on distinct charges. It is possible that the country which first gets Kwon will sentence him for a (life) long period, which means that the other will have to let the story go, at least for now.
This year has been tough for the 'crypto kings'. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on all seven charges he was facing. SBF might spend his entire life in prison following sentencing, which is scheduled for the end of March. He is currently reportedly giving crypto tips to prison guards and paying with mackerel for his haircut.
Co-founder and CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, stepped down from his post after pleading guilty to money laundering charges as a part of the exchange’s settlement agreement with the DoJ. CZ has been released on bail, but the prosecution has asked to detain him in the country until his trial takes place in February. Currently, he is being stoic and feeling bored.
And what of Tron founder Justin Sun? He hasn’t commented on his fellow Kings ups and downs and is playing his own game. Sun has recently navigated his empire through hacking attacks on his exchanges HTX and Poloniex and now promises to initiate an epic airdrop for users. In September, we Observed concerns raised about stUSDT, his latest DeFi project and its possible impact on the 'Empire of the Sun', but to date those fears have not been realized.
