Two federal RICO lawsuits allege a massive crypto fraud scheme involving token dumping, embezzlement, and money laundering - with over $58 million allegedly stolen from investors.
According to court filings, Cere Network's leadership orchestrated a systematic scheme to defraud investors while building a facade of legitimacy.
Cere Network raised approximately $42.96 million from over 5,000 retail investors - many U.S.-based - through the Republic platform under Regulation D. Investors were promised a decentralized data cloud platform with real enterprise partnerships. High-profile backers like Binance Labs and Republic Capital lent credibility to the project.
While publicly claiming insider tokens were "locked," CEO Fred Jin allegedly orchestrated the secret liquidation of $41.78 million in CERE tokens immediately after the November 2021 launch. Proceeds were routed through personal exchange accounts belonging to Jin's wife (Maren Schwarzer) and brother (Xin Jin) on exchanges including HTX and KuCoin.
The lawsuit alleges Jin used automated bots from Gotbit Ltd. - whose founder was later convicted of wire fraud and market manipulation by the U.S. Department of Justice - to create fake trading volume. This made the CERE token appear to have healthy market interest while insiders were systematically dumping their holdings.
An additional $16.6 million in investor funds was allegedly siphoned directly from company wallets and lost in failed DeFi investments. The lawsuit describes these as unauthorized speculative bets that resulted in catastrophic losses - money that belonged to the company and its investors.
The proceeds were allegedly laundered through a network of shell companies spanning Delaware, the British Virgin Islands, Panama, and Germany. Entities like Interdata Network Ltd. (BVI) and CEF AI Inc. were used to obscure the flow of stolen funds.
The CERE token, which peaked at $0.47, has fallen to approximately $0.0012 - a decline of over 99.7%. Investors who trusted the project with their savings have been left with virtually nothing.
The following individuals and entities are named as defendants across the federal RICO lawsuits filed in the Northern District of California.
Two separate federal lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Filed by Goopal Digital Limited and Vivian Liu (former Senior Strategic Advisor). Seeks $25M compensatory and $75M punitive damages for fraud, RICO violations, and breach of advisory and token sale agreements.
Filed by investor Josef Qu. Alleges $58M+ stolen through coordinated token dumping, embezzlement, and money laundering. Includes detailed blockchain evidence tracing token transfers to personal wallets on launch day.
Cere Network employees describe a pattern of mistreatment consistent with the allegations in the lawsuits. These accounts are sourced from Glassdoor reviews.
Source: Glassdoor - Cere Network Reviews · Ratings: Work-Life Balance 1.5/5 · Culture & Values 1.6/5 · Career Opportunities 1.6/5
The Cere Network fraud allegations have been covered by major crypto and financial news outlets.
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