Lime co-founder Brad Bao named in $100M federal RICO lawsuit over alleged Cere Network crypto fraud

Brad Bao, co-founder of the $2.4 billion electric scooter company Lime, has been named as a defendant in a federal racketeering lawsuit alleging he participated in a cryptocurrency pump-and-dump scheme that defrauded retail investors out of tens of millions of dollars.

According to the 41-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (Case No. 3:26-cv-00857), investor Vivian Liu and her company Goopal Digital Ltd. are seeking $100 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Bao, Cere Network CEO Fred Jin, and several other individuals and corporate entities.

The case centers on Cere Network, a blockchain-based decentralized data cloud platform that raised approximately $42.96 million from over 5,000 retail investors, many of whom were U.S.-based and purchased tokens through the Republic platform under Regulation D.

Alleged insider sell-off and token collapse

The complaint alleges that lead defendant Fred Jin publicly represented ahead of the initial coin offering in November 2021 that insider token holdings would remain locked and only vest over a period of months. According to the filing, the opposite occurred: on the day of the ICO, Jin and his associates transferred large quantities of tokens to exchanges including HTX and Kucoin and sold aggressively over the following weeks.

The Cere token reached an all-time high of $0.47 on launch day before collapsing to $0.06 by December 31, 2021. It currently trades at approximately $0.0012, a decline of 99.7% from its peak. The total proceeds from the alleged insider sell-off came to approximately $41.78 million, according to the filing.

The complaint traces the alleged proceeds through intermediate wallets and into a network of shell companies and personal accounts controlled by Jin, his wife Maren Schwarzer, and his brother Xin Jin, spanning entities in Delaware, the British Virgin Islands, Panama, and Germany. An additional $16.6 million was allegedly siphoned from corporate wallets and lost in speculative DeFi investments.

Bao’s alleged role and prior litigation

The complaint identifies Bao as a Cere Network board member who received director’s fees and an early token allocation. As the co-founder of Lime, his involvement carried significant weight with prospective investors, the filing states.

The plaintiffs allege Bao approved transactions designed to funnel investor funds into personal accounts controlled by Jin and failed to act on accounting irregularities that should have raised concerns.

Bao has faced prior litigation, including a fraud action involving the City of San Francisco and a separate lawsuit brought by venture firm Khosla Ventures alleging fraud and intentional interference tied to a collapsed $30 million acquisition deal.

Gotbit connection and wash trading allegations

The lawsuit also alleges that Jin and his associates engaged Gotbit Ltd., a crypto market-making firm, to deploy automated trading bots that conducted wash trading, generating fake volume to disguise the insider sell-off.

Gotbit’s founder, Alex Andryunin, was subsequently convicted of wire fraud and market manipulation as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Operation Token Mirrors, a federal sting operation targeting crypto market manipulation.

Investor claims and alleged pattern of conduct

Plaintiff Vivian Liu alleges she was recruited by Jin in 2019 to work for and invest in Cere Network, with promises of returns through the company and the Cere token. Liu claims she was owed 20 million tokens and Goopal was owed 33.3 million tokens — a combined value of approximately $25 million at the ICO peak price. Neither party ever received their tokens, according to the filing.

The complaint further alleges Jin’s pattern of conduct predates Cere Network, citing his involvement in mobile gaming company Funler in 2015 and education-blockchain platform Bitlearn in 2017, both characterized as precursors to the same scheme.

Legal claims and case details

The suit asserts claims under RICO, RICO conspiracy, fraud, aiding and abetting fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of advisory and token sale agreements.

In addition to Bao and Jin, the named defendants include Maren Schwarzer, Xin Jin, Cere CMO Martijn Broersma, director François Granade, and corporate entities Cerebellum Network Inc., Interdata Network Ltd., and CEF AI Inc.

The plaintiffs are represented by John K. Ly and Jennifer L. Chor of Liang Ly LLP. The case is Goopal Digital Limited et al. v. Fred Jin et al., Case No. 3:26-cv-00857, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The full federal complaint is available here.

Featured image via AngeloS4444 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).