PODGORICA -- The Council of the Supreme Court of Montenegro has postponed the extradition of South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon to his home country despite what was said to be a final rejection earlier this week of an appeal in the Balkan state.
It is a case that has elicited seemingly contradictory judicial decisions since the 32-year-old cryptomogul, described as Kwon Do Hyeong in the court document, and a business partner were detained at a Podgorica airport 12 months ago.
In a press statement on March 22, the five-judge council said the postponement would be in effect "until a decision is made on the submitted request for the protection of legality."
The Appeals Court of Montenegro on March 20 had upheld a Podgorica Hight Court decision and thus rejected an appeal from Kwon, known as the "Cryptocurrency King," to avoid execution of a South Korean Justice Ministry request for extradition.
Goran Rodic, a lawyer for Kwon, said at the time that he and his client were satisfied with the decision and that it was up to Montenegro and South Korea to determine details of the presumed extradition.
TerraformLabs, a company founded and headed by Kwon, was behind TerraUSD, which collapsed in May last year, shaking the cryptocurrency market.
South Korea and the United States have each requested Kwon's extradition for his alleged role in the loss of investments worth more than $40 billion.
Montenegro handed over his business partner, Hon Chang-joon, to South Korean authorities on February 5 before he was escorted back there based on an Interpol warrant.
The two men were arrested at Podgorica airport in March 2023 as they were trying to board a private plane to Dubai using fake Costa Rican passports. Kwon has nearly completed a four-month sentence for forging a passport.
Montenegrin courts have previously made different decisions regarding extradition requests from South Korea and the United States for Kwon.
An initial legal interpretation suggested the decision would be made by Justice Minister Andrej Milovic, who said Kwon would be extradited to the United States because it was the first country to submit an extradition request.
Montenegrin law stipulates that priority is given to the country that submits the first extradition request.
A higher court then announced that the decision was not in the minister's hands because it was not a regular but an "expedited procedure" of extradition, in which case a court should decide.
In subsequent proceedings, the Montenegrin courts interpreted the extradition requests differently.
On March 25, 2023, the U.S. Embassy reportedly submitted a note to the Montenegrin Justice Ministry requesting temporary detention for the purpose of extradition of Kwon.
The following day, South Korea submitted an extradition request.
In a decision on February 20, the Higher Court treated the embassy's note as a request and ruled that he should be extradited to the United States, but the Court of Appeals on March 5 annulled that decision.
In a second decision on March 7, the Higher Court decided that South Korea has priority for his extradition.
All decisions were made by the same three-member panel of judges of the Higher Court.
TerraUSD was designated as a stablecoin -- a currency pegged to stable assets like the dollar to prevent drastic fluctuations in prices. However, around $40 billion in market value was erased for investors in TerraUSD and its sister currency, Luna, after the stablecoin plunged far below its $1 peg.
Kwon was subsequently charged in the United States for allegedly "orchestrating a multibillion-dollar crypto-asset securities fraud." Kwon's U.S. trial is scheduled to start on March 25.
Kwon has denied any wrongdoing.