The Justice Minister of Montenegro, Andrej Milović, recently had discussions with officials from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the investigation into Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs.
According to a notice released by the Montenegrin government on May 22, Milović met with personnel from the SEC, including Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal. During the meeting, the justice minister discussed the SEC’s case against Kwon, who, along with Terraform, was found guilty of fraud in April.
At present, Kwon is in Montenegro, where the country’s courts are reviewing extradition requests from the United States and South Korea. Kwon was arrested in March 2023 for using forged travel documents and was subsequently sentenced to four months in prison.
Although Kwon has been released and is free to move within Montenegro, his lawyers have submitted multiple appeals, causing delays in the extradition process. Depending on the court’s decisions, Milović will ultimately determine whether Kwon will be extradited to the United States or South Korea.
In the United States, a judge will review the proposed remedies from Terraform and Kwon at a hearing on May 29. A jury had previously found them liable for fraud. The SEC has suggested that the co-founder and Terraform pay approximately $5.3 billion in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.
Terraform experienced a collapse in 2022 due to the instability of its algorithmic stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST). In January, the company filed for bankruptcy in the United States, disclosing estimated liabilities and assets of up to $500 million.
In related news, the SEC is currently engaged in a challenging legal battle against the crypto industry’s legal firepower, as depicted in the movie “Godzilla vs. Kong.”