The TUSD reserve fund misappropriation case has achieved a judicial breakthrough! Sun Yuchen: "Justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent."

Recently, significant judicial progress has been made in the case of the misappropriation of reserves of the stablecoin TrueUSD (TUSD). (Synopsis: TRON Eight-Year Road: From Small Office in Zhongguancun to Web3 Core Infrastructure) (Background Supplement: Justin Sun announced the complete closure of stablecoin USDJ: more than 95% has been recovered at a premium) (This article is widely compiled, written and provided by Tron, and does not represent the position of the region, nor is it investment advice, purchase or sale advice.) For details, please refer to the liability warning at the end of the article. TUSD's misappropriated reserves are frozen globally Justin Sun pushes global judicial collaboration into deep water In April this year, the systematic encroachment of TrueUSD (TUSD) reserves caused great concern in the industry. With the involvement of regulators in many places and the deepening of cross-border investigations, this large-scale capital embezzlement case involving Hong Kong, Dubai, Cayman Islands and other jurisdictions has recently made significant judicial progress. On October 17, the Dubai International Financial Centre Court (“DIFC Court”) issued an indefinite global asset freeze order against Aria Commodities DMCC for an amount of up to $456 million. In order to respond to social concerns, enhance information transparency, and enable the community and the public to systematically understand the context of the incident, on November 27, the “Truth Realization and Justice Manifestation-TUSD Reserve Assets Global Judicial Prosecution Progress Media Briefing” was held in Hong Kong, China. Justin Sun, founder of TRON at TROM, attended the event and expressed his sincere gratitude to the DIFC Court and its Digital Economy Tribunal for their fair and decisive ruling, and is actively tracing the whereabouts of the misappropriated funds around the world, with the goal of fully recovering and requiring any wrongdoers to return the corresponding reserve assets. He also said that such incidents once again highlight the importance of strengthening the regulation of traditional financial institutions in the crypto industry and the need to ensure greater transparency in the fiduciary relationships behind stablecoins. The TUSD bailout program has never been just about saving a stablecoin, but also about protecting the interests of the public and maintaining the confidence and integrity of the blockchain industry. On April 3 this year, TUSD's operator, Techteryx, disclosed that US$456 million of TUSD's reserve funds had been illegally misappropriated in a case involving Hong Kong-based trust First Digital Trust (“FDT”) and its affiliate Legacy Trust, as well as Dubai-based private company Aria Commodities DMCC (“Aria DMCC”). After Techteryx discovered that the funds had been illegally misappropriated and transferred, Justin Sun provided about $500 million in financial support to Techteryx with personal funds to protect the interests of TUSD holders. On November 13, Justin Sun retweeted the DIFC court's ruling on social media platforms, thanking the court for issuing a freezing order worldwide for the first time to protect the rights and interests of TUSD holders. He tweeted that “justice may be late, but it will never be absent.” In that ruling, the DIFC Court ruled on October 17 to extend indefinitely the property injunction and global freezing order against Aria Commodities DMCC. Aria DMCC is a private wholly owned holding company established in Dubai by the wife of British citizen Matthew Brittain, the de facto controller of the Aria Commodity Finance Fund. The Hidden Chain of Embezzlement: From Escrow Vulnerabilities to Cross-Border Fraud Structures The misappropriation of TUSD reserves dates back to late 2020, when Techteryx completed its overall acquisition of the TUSD business. Based on historical business continuity, TrueCoin, formerly based in California, has been retained to continue to be responsible for reserve management, as well as bank-level execution and coordination. From 2021 to 2022, TrueCoin worked closely with some of the management of its selected Hong Kong trusts, FDT and Legacy Trust, and formed a chain of interests with Matthew Brittain, the actual controller of the offshore fund ACFF. With knowledge of reserve directives and funding paths, the relevant personnel forged documents without authorization, fabricated investment instructions, and repeatedly submitted materials with false statements to banks, and successively transferred a total of $456 million in TUSD legal currency reserves from the regulated custody system. The funds eventually went to the accounts of Aria DMCC, a private company in Dubai. The company is privately owned by Matthew Brittain's wife and is not an authorized investment by Techteryx. According to published information, FDT CEO and director Vincent Chok not only approved the transfers, but also actively promoted the flow of funds to private accounts in order to speed up the collection of high secret rebates. After the funds arrived in Dubai, in order to conceal the illegal source, the parties involved re-created the fund subscription documents, packaged these unauthorized reserves as “connected loans” from ACFF, and falsified return records, making the entire capital path appear to flow through formal investment. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) publicly noted in 2024 that TrueCoin has long made misleading statements about reserve security, failed to disclose significant risks to investors, and had elements of fraud in its management structure that cannot be ignored. International Judicial Breakthrough: DIFC Court Ruling Enters Freeze and Recovery Phase As investigation data becomes more centralized, Techteryx has proactively submitted materials and sought judicial assistance from regulatory authorities in various places since 2023. After months of cross-border evidence collection and multiple rounds of hearings, the DIFC court finally became a key juncture in the judicial progress of the case. On October 17 of this year, the DIFC court formally ruled that there were “material matters to be judged” in the $456 million flow in this case, including whether the funds were illegally used to maintain the liquidity of private companies, whether the authorization was forged, whether the custodian had betrayed the trust and whether the institutions involved constituted joint fraud. Based on the credibility of these factual bases and the seriousness of the conduct involved, the court issued an indefinite global asset freeze order to Aria DMCC to prevent further transfers, disposals, or disappearances of funds. After the judgment comes into effect, any institution or individual who is aware of the existence of the freezing order but still facilitates the flow of funds may be guilty of contempt of court and face severe legal consequences. The relevant legal procedures in many places around the world are about to accelerate, and as more asset paths are locked, the persons and institutions involved will also face clearer legal consequences. The significance of this case goes far beyond the single stablecoin itself, and it affects not only the interests of investors, but also the underlying logic of global stablecoin governance, the reliability of the custody system, and the future direction of cross-border financial crime governance. Today, with the rapid expansion of the international digital financial system, this case is expected to become an important milestone in the establishment of transparent standards for the global stablecoin industry. Disclaimer: The content of this article is a publicity manuscript provided by the contributor, and the contributor has no relationship with the moving area, and this article does not represent the position of the moving area. This article is not intended to provide any investment, asset advice or legal advice and should not be construed as buying, selling or holding capital.