Court documents reveal that Tron founder Justin Sun has been served with a subpoena by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding a civil complaint filed against him last month. The SEC is also subpoenaing Youtuber Austin Mahone and rapper Soulja Boy (real name DeAndre Cortez Way), accusing Sun of engaging in a manipulative trading scheme, orchestrating the unregistered sale and offering of crypto asset securities.
Court attempts to serve Tron founder Justin Sun, subpoena sent to his Singapore address
Court subpoenaissued to Sun, Mahone, and Soulja Boy, giving them 21 days to contact SEC attorney Adam Gottlieb. The subpoenas are in connection with a recent lawsuit filed against the three by an SEC civil action alleging that Sun illegally offered and sold tron (TRX)and bittorrent tokens (BTT).
The SEC alleges that Sun orchestrated the offer and sale ofTRXand BTT while participating in a manipulative wash trade of
TRXto create the false impression of legitimate investor interest. Securities regulators allege that Sun implemented these schemes through various organizations it controlled, including Rainberry, Bittorrent Foundation Ltd.
Mahone was charged with illegally promotingSoulja Boy, who promoted TRXto 9.1 million followers on his Twitter account, faces similar allegations for promotingTRXto 5.2 million Twitter followers. If Defendants do not respond within the time specified, a default judgment will be entered against them for the relief requested in the Complaint.
Sun’s exact location is unknown, but he has recentlyclaimed on Twitterto be in Hong Kong; Gottlieb’s court summons lists Sun’s address as Singapore. In addition to Soulja Boy and Mahone, other celebrities, including Lindsay Lohan, Ne-Yo, Kendra Rust, Jake Paul, and Akon, have been sued forillegal promotion; TRXexcept for Soulja Boy and Mahone, all have settled with US regulators and have settled with U.S. regulators.
On Twitter, Suncommented on the lawsuitand said his team believes the complaint “lacks merit.” He also argued that the SEC’s regulatory framework for digital assets is still developing and needs further development. In addition, Tron’s founder expressed his willingness to “work with governments and regulators around the world.” If a subpoena cannot be served on a defendant, the court may need to consider alternative methods of notifying the defendant.
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