Cryptofugee Do Kwon is charged with forgery in Montenegro‍

Do Kwon, a wanted cryptocurrency entrepreneur, was charged with forgery by Montenegrin prosecutors on Friday, and South Korean officials promised to push for his extradition.

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The creator of Terraform is charged with fraud in connection with the abrupt demise of his business last year, which destroyed approximately $40 billion in investor funds and rocked the world's cryptocurrency markets.

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Kwon, whose full name is Kwon Do-hyung, was detained along with a companion on Thursday at Podgorica Airport in Montenegro when it was discovered that he was traveling with forged identification.

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According to Montenegro's police, "a criminal complaint was filed against both persons for the criminal offence of document falsification."

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Kwon is currently dealing with two proceedings in Montenegro: the first concerns his alleged ownership of forgeries, and the second concerns his potential extradition.

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According to his counsel Branko Andjelic, Kwon has been charged with forgery and the prosecution has requested that he be held without pay for at least 30 days, according to AFP. Kwon has also denied having any fake documents in his possession.

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Andjelic stated that a hearing regarding the forgery allegations was still going on.

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Kwon would not come before the Higher Court in Podgorica on his extradition until the lower court had decided on the forgery allegations, according to a court official.

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Kwon was detained in Montenegro, according to the interior ministry, on the basis of a formal extradition request from Seoul, which announced its intention to do so on Friday.

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The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office spokesman, Kim Hee-kyung, told AFP that South Korean prosecutors would take action to repatriate Kwon Do-hyung.

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A multinational agreement that promotes extradition between signatory countries, the European Convention on Extradition, has South Korea as a member and Montenegro as a signatory.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission reported that after his detention, the US also filed eight counts against Kwon for allegedly "instigating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud."

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Prior to the company's fall in May of last year, Kwon is said to have flown from South Korea to Singapore.

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His passport was revoked in September after South Korean prosecutors requested that he be added to Interpol's red notice list for all 195 of its member countries.

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A "stablecoin," which is often anchored to reliable assets like the US dollar to prevent sharp price volatility, was how Kwon's TerraUSD was marketed.

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However, TerraUSD was a "algorithmic stablecoin" that was solely tethered to its floating sister currency, Luna; it was not backed by any assets. The two currencies fell precipitously in May of the previous year.

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As the Singapore Police Force stated that Kwon was not in the nation, questions about his whereabouts grew more intense.

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Kwon and a friend allegedly used "falsified identity papers from Costa Rica" at passport checks for a flight to Dubai, according to Montenegro authorities on Thursday.

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According to the interior ministry of Montenegro, examination of their luggage also turned up identity papers from Belgium or South Korea, and Interpol investigations confirmed that the Belgian documents were fake.

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Regulators are now paying more attention to cryptocurrencies as a result of a number of recent issues, including the well-publicized demise of the exchange FTX.

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The collapse of US crypto banks Silvergate and Signature, which came amid a succession of financial crises that shook up the world markets, has had a significant impact on the digital currency sector as well.

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Cho Dong-keun, an emeritus professor of economics at Myongji University, told AFP: "It is true that Kwon has caused too much harm to too many individuals, with something that contained a lot of inexplicable hazards."

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According to Trade Algo, which cited the US SEC, Kwon and Terraform Labs also transferred and over 10,000 bitcoin from out their failed project and changed part of the assets into cash via a Swiss bank.

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According to Kim Dae-jong, a business management at Sejong University, "Kwon definitely must be held responsible for his acts."

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The fact that Kwon misused the company for his own financial advantage shows that he didn't manage it ethically or according to the law.