Montenegro extradites ex-Terraform Labs financial executive to South Korea

BELGRADE, Feb 5 (Reuters) -

Montenegro on Monday extradited Han Chang-joon, a financial executive of the Terraform Labs cryptocurrency firm, to South Korea, the Balkan country's justice ministry said.

Han and Terraform Lab's former CEO Do Kwon, who is charged in the U.S. with a multibillion-dollar fraud, were sentenced last year by a Montenegrin court to four months in prison for using forged passports.

Han was expected to arrive in South Korea via Incheon Airport at around 1:55 p.m. (0455 GMT) on Tuesday under the extradition process, Seoul's justice ministry said in a press release.

The ministry also said it would "make its best effort" to have Kwon extradited to South Korea.

"Today, the state of Montenegro acted on the request of South Korea, and according to the decision of the Ministry of Justice, handed over Han Chang Joon to the competent authorities of his home country," Montenegro's justice ministry statement said.

The handover was also reported by a Montenegro police statement, referring to Han by his initials J.C.H. A police official who asked not to be named confirmed Han's identity.

The statement did not offer details about Kwon.

Last year the High Court in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica said Kwon had agreed to be extradited to South Korea under an abbreviated procedure but that the justice minister would have the final say as multiple states have requested his handover.

Kwon´s lawyer in Podgorica was not immediately available to comment.

A South Korean national, Kwon is the former CEO of South Korea-based Terraform Labs, the company behind the stablecoin TerraUSD that collapsed in May 2022, roiling cryptocurrency markets.

Han and Kwon were detained last March at Podgorica airport as they tried to board a flight to Dubai.

Following Kwon's arrest, the U.S. District Court in Manhattan made public an eight-count indictment against him for securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and conspiracy. (Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Additional reporting by Hyunsu Yim in Seoul; Editing by William Maclean, Ed Davies)