Written by: Aleks Gilbert
Compiled by: Chopper, Foresight News
Cryptocurrency tycoon Justin Sun wants to maintain good relations with Donald Trump, but he has taken a hard line against the former president's business partners.
In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Sun accused World Liberty Financial executives of fraud, theft, and other illegal activities.
These allegations are not couched in lengthy, dry legal jargon. Instead, the complaint emphasizes that World Liberty Financial is facing "collapse and potential bankruptcy" and is struggling to operate.
Sun directs the most damaging content at one person: World Liberty co-founder Chase Herro, whom the complaint describes as a habitual fraudster and tax evader.
Some details have been reported before. And content such as World Liberty's imminent collapse is purely speculative. Nevertheless, this lawsuit will provide ample ammunition for the company's critics, including disgruntled investors and opposition lawmakers waiting to pounce.
When asked about the lawsuit on Wednesday, a spokesperson for World Liberty Financial pointed to a statement posted on social media by the company's co-founder.
The company's CEO, Zach Witkoff, called the lawsuit "a desperate attempt by Justin Sun to divert attention from his own misconduct."
Herro did not directly respond to the lawsuit. He reposted a motivational poem by Rudyard Kipling and Witkoff's statement, captioning it: "Building is never easy; it is often filled with successes and failures, like a huge maze you need to navigate."
Here are the four most noteworthy allegations and details from the 52-page lawsuit.
Herro's Past
Mainstream media reports have previously detailed Herro's checkered history, including a prison record, inflammatory remarks, questionable business practices, and involvement in a DeFi protocol in 2024 that lost almost all of its crypto assets due to a hack.
The complaint includes all of the above and adds several new details.
The complaint states: "Herro's business misconduct was so egregious that around 2010, deceived clients and partners set up a website called ChaseHeroScam.com."
The website was inaccessible on Thursday, and DL News could not verify whether the content mentioned in Sun's complaint existed on the site.
The complaint alleges that Herro has been subject to four federal tax liens, and a tax deed was issued for a property he owned in Florida.
The complaint also states that Herro "publicly boasted" about visiting Little St. James Island, the private island owned by the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. However, the complaint does not provide evidence of this statement, and DL News has not been able to verify whether Herro made such remarks.
"Secret" Upgrade
Since the early stages of the project, holders of World Liberty Financial's governance token, WLFI, have had very limited rights.
According to company documents, token holders have no right to participate in the operation of World Liberty Financial but can vote on upgrades to the underlying technology.
Sun alleges that World Liberty executives broke their promise and unilaterally and quietly carried out two technical upgrades last year without any governance vote or disclosure to WLFI holders.
The upgrade allegedly gave World Liberty Financial the authority to freeze and seize WLFI tokens, and this authority has been used against Sun. Sun describes this upgrade as a devastating move.
"Although the upgrade is queryable on the public blockchain, World Liberty Financial hid it deep in the code, failing to inform token holders of the function's existence and potential impact," the complaint states. "The company secretly added a 'blacklist' function that could be activated at will."
World Liberty Financial stated that the freezing function is only used to protect user rights.
Witkoff said in a statement: "Justin Sun engaged in违规 behavior, and World Liberty Financial had to take action to protect its own and its users' rights. World Liberty Financial will continue to take all necessary measures to protect the community ecosystem."
TRUMP Meme Coin
World Liberty Financial's allegations of Sun's so-called misconduct have been vague. But Sun says company executives provided detailed explanations in private.
The reasons include: executives determined that Sun's selling of tokens caused the WLFI price to drop by 40%, that he违规 purchased tokens on behalf of others, and that he violated the "token purchase agreement," among others.
But the complaint points to another trigger for the conflict: the TRUMP Meme coin.
"World Liberty Financial stated that one of the reasons for freezing the WLFI tokens was dissatisfaction with Sun's purchase of $100 million worth of TRUMP tokens (issued by another Trump-backed project)," the complaint states. Part of the next sentence is redacted, but the ending indicates that something (likely the purchase of TRUMP tokens) "was approved in advance by a member of the Trump family, who is also a partner in both projects."
The complaint does not explain why World Liberty Financial would object to Sun buying TRUMP coins.
Money Transmission Business违规
Last year, two crypto developers were sentenced to prison for operating an unlicensed money transmission business, and another was convicted on the same charge but has not yet been sentenced.
Sun alleges that World Liberty Financial is also in violation of this regulation.
The complaint argues that by granting itself the power to transfer tokens on behalf of others, World Liberty Financial became a money transmitter.
"World Liberty's highly centralized control over WLFI tokens is not only completely contrary to the philosophy of DeFi but also indicates that it is conducting a money transmission business without registration or a license, violating numerous U.S. federal and state criminal laws."
