Montenegrin authorities have extradited Han Chang-joon, the chief financial officer of the now-defunct cryptocurrency firm Terraform Labs, to South Korea.
According to Reuters, citing the Montenegrin Ministry of Justice, Han Chang-joon, and Terraform Lab CEO Do Kwon, accused in the United States of multibillion-dollar fraud, were sentenced last year by a Montenegrin court to four months in prison for using fake passports, with Chang-joon set to be handed over to South Korean authorities.
“Today, the state of Montenegro acted on the request of South Korea and, according to the decision of the Ministry of Justice, handed over Han Chang-joon to the competent authorities of his home country.”
Montenegrin Ministry of Justice
On March 23, 2023, Han Chang-joon and Do Kwon were detained at the airport. The detention occurred at the request of law enforcement agencies in Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. Prosecutors accused the former head of Terraform Labs of falsifying official documents and petitioned to extend the detention of Kwon and Chang Jung. On April 20, 2023, Montenegrin authorities filed charges against Do Kwon and his business partner.
Last December, the decision of the Supreme Court of Montenegro approving the extradition of Terra founder Do Kwon to the United States or South Korea was rejected by the country’s Court of Appeal. This happened after two countries requested his extradition to face criminal charges related to the collapse of his crypto project Terraform Labs in May 2022.
