The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has rejigged its lawsuit against Tron founder Justin Sun, claiming he’s “traveled extensively” throughout the country — thus giving it jurisdiction.
The regulator argues it has “personal jurisdiction” over Sun, Tron and two other businesses he controls, as they “purposefully took actions in and directed toward the United States,” it wrote in an April 17 amended complaint to a Manhattan federal court.
Sun spent a total of over 380 days in the U.S. between 2017 and 2019 on business trips to New York City, Boston and San Francisco, the SEC claimed.
It alleged the trips were on behalf of the Tron Foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation and Rainberry — all named in the suit as Sun’s “alter ego” firms.
The SEC reiterated allegations from its original lawsuit last month that Sun and his businesses sold unregistered securities through the Tron (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens and that Sun engaged in “manipulative wash trading.”
The SEC took care to allege that TRX and BTT were promoted, offered and sold to “consumers and investors located in the United States.”
It added that “Sun traveled extensively to the United States during the time that TRX and BTT were promoted, offered, and sold.”
It also claimed Sun’s alleged TRX wash trades took place on the Seattle-based crypto exchange Bittrex.
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In late March, Sun, a Chinese-born Grenadian citizen, asked to dismiss the suit, arguing the SEC applied U.S. security laws to “predominantly foreign conduct” and had no jurisdiction over him or the Singapore-based Tron Foundation.
He claimed the TRX and BTT tokens were sold “entirely overseas,” and the sales took steps to avoid the U.S. market; he added the SEC did not allege the tokens “were offered or sold initially to any U.S. residents.”
Sun’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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