Share this article

Do Kwon's Appeal in Fake Passport Case Denied by Montenegro High Court

The founder of Terraform Labs was sentenced to four months in prison, and faces extradition following the completion of his sentence.

Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon on CoinDesk TV in December. (CoinDesk)
Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon on CoinDesk TV in December. (CoinDesk)

A Montenegro High Court has denied Terra founder Do Kwon's appeal of a four-month prison sentence over charges of falsifying documents, according to a Thursday statement.

The High Court "rejected as unfounded the appeals of" a lower court judgment, which sentenced Korean citizens Kwon and fellow Terra executive Han Chang-Joon back in June.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the State of Crypto Newsletter today. See all newsletters

The founder of the crypto enterprise was arrested along with his associate in Montenegro in March nearly a year after the dramatic collapse of his crypto empire Terraform Labs. The two have remained in custody since their arrest, and Kwon faces extradition to South Korea or the U.S. once his sentence in the Balkan nation is complete.

The four-month prison sentence is "adequate" punishment for the crime committed, a statement from the Basic Court of Montenegro capital Podgorica said.

"The imposed security measure of confiscation of the objects of the commission of the criminal offense - passports and identity cards - was necessary in order to arrest the perpetrators. prevented them from committing criminal acts in the future," it added.

Sandali Handagama

Sandali Handagama is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for policy and regulations, EMEA. She is an alumna of Columbia University's graduate school of journalism and has contributed to a variety of publications including The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Nation and Popular Science. Sandali doesn't own any crypto and she tweets as @iamsandali

Sandali Handagama