Summary:
- A High Court in Montenegro repealed bail terms for TerraUSD creator Do Kwon and his colleague Han Chang-Joon.
- Do Kwon and his former CFO Han were each granted €400,000 ($437,000) bail in a travel paper forgery case.
- Local prosecutors appealed the decision, arguing that Kwon and his CFO were flight risks.
- The decision will now return to the Basic Court which initially granted bail a day after Kwon’s lawyers filed the request.
- Authorities in Montenegro, South Korea, and the U.S. continue to debate extradition rights.
Do Kwon and his former CFO Han Chang-Joon will not be granted bail after a Montenegrin High Court overruled a previous approval for their release, per Bloomberg.
A Basic Court ruled to release Kwon and Han on May 12 on the condition that both defendants pay €400,000 ($437,000) in bail. The terms of the release included home arrest pending further court proceedings.
Local prosecutor Haris Šabotić and the State Prosecutor’s Office in the capital Podgorica appealed the decision all the way, arguing that the amount was not enough to guarantee their presence in the country. Šabotić stressed that the pair were a flight risk.
Kwon’s attorneys said that the defendants’ spouses would post bail on behalf of the pair and Kwon himself boasted “average finances” when asked by the court. Notably, reports said that the Terraform Labs founder withdrew $100 million to a Swiss bank account last year. South Korean authorities also froze over $170 million in assets belonging to the former Terraform CEO.
What’s Next For Do Kwon and His CFO?
According to reports, the decision will return to the Basic Court which initially granted Kwon his bail. It’s currently unclear how this misalignment between both courts will play out for the former Terra execs. Both Kwon and Han will remain in detention pending a decision from the Montenegrin judiciary.
In the background, authorities from South Korea and the U.S. remain undecided as to who should extradite Do Kwon and charge him for fraud among other claims in the more than $40 billion collapse of Terraform Labs.
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Kwon’s Bail Hopes Dashed By Montenegro High Court
The Montenegrin High Court ruled in favor of maintaining South Korean tycoon Yoo Bus Kwon’s extradition to Montenegro, dashing hopes for his release on bail. Currently, Kwon, a former chairman of SamPa Group, a mogul holding firm, is on trial in Montenegro on charges of money laundering and bribery.
Kwon is the third executive from the firm in recent months to be accused of money laundering and bribery. The first two, Jang Dae-Yeol and Song Da-Hee, stand accused of paying millions in bribes to a Montenegrin politician in exchange for lucrative public contracts. Kwon, due to the severity of the charges against him, had been held in custody since his arrest in October 2018.
Kwon’s lawyer had argued that his detention did not comply with Montenegrin law and sought, through an appeal to the high court, for the release of his client. Stating that Kwon had “not failed to appear on any trial date”, his defence team also claimed that the tycoon had promised to remain in Montenegro.
However, the court rejected the defence argument and ruling stated that “the accused was not responsible for his presence in the country under any other circumstances than his extradition”. It went on to say that it was not easy to guarantee that the accused would not leave Montenegro if he was freed, and concluded that the detention in prison was necessary for the further proceedings in the investigation.
The ruling by the Montenegrin High Court highlights the seriousness of Kwon’s situation in relation to the charges brought against him. He will remain in prison awaiting trial and faces the potential for a decades-long prison sentence for his alleged role in this money laundering and bribery case.
