Terraform Labs co-founder, Do Kwon, has formally petitioned the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to delay his impending trial until March.
The grounds for this request are based on the complexities surrounding his extradition proceedings in Montenegro, which have not progressed as swiftly as initially anticipated.
In a letter submitted on January 11 and addressed to Judge Jed Rakoff, Kwon’s legal representatives stressed his strong desire to be present at the trial, which is currently slated for January 29.
Unfortunately, they had previously expected Kwon to have returned to the United States by this time, stating, “Mr. Kwon wishes to attend his trial.
Counsel had hoped the extradition proceedings in Montenegro would proceed more quickly than they have.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had filed charges against Kwon in February 2023, accusing him of involvement in a massive cryptocurrency securities fraud scheme worth billions of dollars.
These allegations were closely linked to the collapse of Terraform Labs’ stablecoin, TerraUSD (USTC), and its associated Terra (LUNA) token.
Kwon’s legal team acknowledged the urgency of the trial but indicated that the January trial date would be unfeasible for him to attend.
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They proposed, “We understand the Court cannot put the trial on hold indefinitely, but an adjournment until mid-March would provide a realistic possibility for Mr. Kwon to attend,” in their letter.
Notably, in December 2023, the Appellate Court of Montenegro took a significant step by annulling the decision of the High Court of Podgorica, which had initially approved Kwon’s extradition to either the United States or South Korea.
Only a week earlier, reports had emerged that both U.S. and South Korean authorities were requesting Kwon’s continued detention for an additional two months after the completion of his current sentence.
There is growing speculation regarding the possibility of Kwon facing multiple sentences in both countries.
Kwon’s legal troubles began in March 2023 when he was apprehended in Montenegro while attempting to leave the country using falsified travel documents.
His legal team’s request for a trial delay until March is underpinned by the intricate and evolving extradition challenges he faces, further underscoring the complexity of his legal predicament.
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