Promises Made Ahead of the Token Launch
According to the complaint, Jin created and marketed what became known as the Cere Token, offering it to employees as compensation and selling it to early investors at discounted rates.
The expectation, the suit says, was that the token’s value would surge once it became publicly tradable on Nov. 8, 2021.
Ahead of that launch, Jin allegedly assured employees and investors that insiders would not sell their tokens early and that all holdings would remain locked under strict vesting schedules for months after the initial coin offering.
The purpose, plaintiffs say, was to signal long-term commitment while reassuring buyers that the market would not be flooded by insider sales.
What Plaintiffs Say Happened Instead
“But this is exactly what Jin did,” the complaint alleges.
While employees and investors remained bound by lock-up provisions, Jin and his alleged co-conspirators secretly sold more than $41 million in Cere tokens on public exchanges shortly after trading opened, transferring the proceeds into personal wallets.
Goopal and Liu further allege that millions of dollars raised for Cere’s operations were funneled into shell entities and accounts controlled by Jin and his associates.
