The so-called “cryptocurrency king”, Hyeong Do Kwon, and his business partner, Hon Chang Joon, have each been sentenced by the Basic Court in Podgorica to four months in prison each for forging travel documents.

They will be in custody, as South Korea and the United States are seeking their extradition, due to cryptocurrency scams worth tens of billions of euros, REL writes.

They were arrested on March 23 at Podgorica airport, from where they tried to take a private plane to Dubai, with illegal passports.

They have been using Costa Rican passports, while during the search, they have also found documents from South Korea and Belgium.

At the hearing, Hyeong Do Kwon and Hon Chang Joon said they applied for Costa Rican passports in Singapore through an agency there, and were then provided with them after the procedure was completed.

They said they were convinced the passports were legal, although they later received a notice from the International Police Agency (INTERPOL) that their travel documents were illegal.

Do Kwon’s arrest has received worldwide attention because he is one of the most wanted people in connection with fraud allegedly committed through cryptocurrencies.