Skip to main content

US, South Korea both seek Do Kwon’s extradition to face charges

Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, which operated the so-called TerraUSD stablecoin and its sister token LUNA, was arrested in Montenegro Thursday morning after months in hiding while trying to board a flight to flee Dubai with falsified documents. 

Thursday night — a few hours after Kwon was arrested at the airport in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro.–  the U.S. prosecutors charged Kwon with eight criminal indictments, including securities fraud and conspiracy, for his alleged roles in what wiped out about $40 billion from the crypto market. Interpol also confirmed Thursday that the man detained in Montenegro is crypto fugitive Do Kwon, or Do-Hyung Kwon, who is wanted in South Korea and the U.S. on fraud charges, per CNN

So, what’s next to come? We don’t know which country Kwon will be sent to as he now faces criminal charges in both the U.S. by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and his native country, South Korea. Still, the U.S. and South Korea both appear to be seeking Kwon’s extradition. (We will keep this in sight regarding how it would pan out.) 

U.S. federal prosecutors reportedly said they would seek Kwon’s extradition to New York, while their Korean counterpart is also seeking Kwon’s extradition. A spokesperson of South Korean prosecutors told TechCrunch that they are discussing with “related parties” about extraditing Kwon as soon as possible. The spokesperson, however, did not specify which country Kwon would be shifted to from Montenegro, or how long it is likely to take, and the identity of the related parties. 

Kwon is facing a myriad of criminal proceedings. Since the Terra/LUNA collapse in May 2022, a South Korean court has issued an arrest warrant against him, and Interpol issued a red notice, a call to law enforcement worldwide, in September to capture Kwon, who said in an interview with Coinage in August that he wasn’t charged with anything

In October, South Korean prosecutors reportedly requested the local foreign affairs ministry to nullify Kwon’s passport unless he returned that by Sept 15. (Kwon’s passport, which was not returned by then, appears to have been revoked.) 

The Singapore-headquartered blockchain platform entrepreneur, who claimed he wasn’t on the run but whose location was unknown, registered his address in Serbia via United Arab Emirates in December, according to reports. Most recently, the U.S. SEC charged Terraform Labs and Kwon with defrauding U.S. investors who purchased its crypto assets – Terra and LUNA. 

US, South Korea both seek Do Kwon’s extradition to face charges by Kate Park originally published on TechCrunch



source https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/24/us-south-korea-both-seek-do-kwons-extradition-to-face-charges/

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Apple’s AI Push: Everything We Know About Apple Intelligence So Far

Apple’s WWDC 2025 confirmed what many suspected: Apple is finally making a serious leap into artificial intelligence. Dubbed “Apple Intelligence,” the suite of AI-powered tools, enhancements, and integrations marks the company’s biggest software evolution in a decade. But unlike competitors racing to plug AI into everything, Apple is taking a slower, more deliberate approach — one rooted in privacy, on-device processing, and ecosystem synergy. If you’re wondering what Apple Intelligence actually is, how it works, and what it means for your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you’re in the right place. This article breaks it all down.   What Is Apple Intelligence? Let’s get the terminology clear first. Apple Intelligence isn’t a product — it’s a platform. It’s not just a chatbot. It’s a system-wide integration of generative AI, machine learning, and personal context awareness, embedded across Apple’s OS platforms. Think of it as a foundational AI layer stitched into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and m...

The Silent Revolution of On-Device AI: Why the Cloud Is No Longer King

Introduction For years, artificial intelligence has meant one thing: the cloud. Whether you’re asking ChatGPT a question, editing a photo with AI tools, or getting recommendations on Netflix — those decisions happen on distant servers, not your device. But that’s changing. Thanks to major advances in silicon, model compression, and memory architecture, AI is quietly migrating from giant data centres to the palm of your hand. Your phone, your laptop, your smartwatch — all are becoming AI engines in their own right. It’s a shift that redefines not just how AI works, but who controls it, how private it is, and what it can do for you. This article explores the rise of on-device AI — how it works, why it matters, and why the cloud’s days as the centre of the AI universe might be numbered. What Is On-Device AI? On-device AI refers to machine learning models that run locally on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or edge device — without needing constant access to the cloud. In practi...

Max Q: Psyche(d)

In this issue: SpaceX launches NASA asteroid mission, news from Relativity Space and more. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/h6Kjrde via IFTTT