BELGRADE: Montenegro will extradite to the United States South Korean cryptocurrency specialist Do Kwon, who is also wanted by Seoul for the multi-billion-dollar bankruptcy of his company, Terraform Labs, the Montenegrin Justice Ministry announced on Friday.

For months, Seoul and Washington have been seeking the South Korean`s extradition for his suspected role in a fraud linked to his company`s failure, which wiped out about $40 billion of investors` money and shook global crypto markets.

`The Minister of Justice, Bojan Bozovic, issued a decision approving the extradition of the accused, Kwon Do Hyung, to the United States of America,` the Ministry of Justice announced, following a year and a half of dizzying court rulings and subsequent reversals regarding his extradition.

`It was concluded that the majority of the criteria prescribed by law favour the extradition request from the competent authorities of the United States of America,` the Ministry added in a statement.

The crypto tycoon was arrested in March 2023 at the airport in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, while preparing to board a flight to Dubai, in possession of a fake Costa Rican passport.-AFP