World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff is facing fresh scrutiny after body camera footage from a 2022 arrest began circulating again, at the same time the DeFi project is dealing with a lawsuit from Justin Sun.
According to footage recently shared on X, Witkoff was detained outside Miami nightclub E11EVEN on New Year’s Day 2022. The incident also involved his father, Steve Witkoff. Venue security said Steve Witkoff tried to enter the club after being denied access, which led to a physical confrontation.
Old police footage returns to the spotlight
Police video shows officers searching the scene and finding a bag of cocaine. Zach Witkoff was charged at the time with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and felony possession. During the exchange, he gave shifting explanations, first saying he was trying to help a friend and later saying the drugs were not his. He also said he had done nothing wrong and claimed he had been assaulted.
As officers warned him not to resist, the situation became more tense. While being detained, Witkoff tried to invoke ties to the club’s ownership, saying he was friends with Marc Roberts. A security guard replied that nobody cared and told him to stop name-dropping.
Court records show Witkoff later posted bond and entered a not guilty plea. Prosecutors initially moved forward with the case, but the felony cocaine charge was later dismissed, along with one resisting arrest count.
In comments shared with crypto.news, Witkoff said the incident came during a difficult period in his life and that he was deeply embarrassed by it. He described it as an isolated mistake that does not reflect who he is today, adding that marriage and starting a family changed his life and that he has since lived a disciplined, substance-free life focused on family and responsibility.
Justin Sun lawsuit puts WLFI’s token actions in focus
The timing of the resurfaced footage overlaps with a lawsuit filed by Justin Sun against World Liberty Financial. Sun alleges the Trump-linked DeFi project used coercive tactics tied to his WLFI position.
According to the complaint, the platform froze 4 billion WLFI tokens that Sun bought in September and tried to pressure him to remove them from circulation. The filing says co-founder Chase Herro warned that if Sun refused, the project would push a governance vote to erase his holdings by using its control over token supply.
The lawsuit says this was part of “an effort to coerce Mr. Sun into providing more capital for the benefit of the company.” It also alleges threats to report Sun to authorities over unspecified KYC issues. The source notes that months later, Sun reached a $10 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission without admitting or denying wrongdoing.
Sun also claims World Liberty tried to stop a large holder from selling in order to support WLFI’s price, while wrongly accusing him of short-selling and blaming him for a 40% drop in the token’s value in September.
Based on CoinGecko data, with WLFI trading near $0.08, Sun’s frozen holdings are worth about $318 million.
Witkoff rejects the case and questions Sun’s motives
Witkoff responded publicly on X by calling the lawsuit a desperate attempt to divert attention from Sun’s own misconduct. He said the allegations are “entirely meritless.”
World Liberty took the same line in a separate statement, saying Justin Sun’s preferred tactic is to play the victim while making baseless accusations to cover up his own conduct, and added: “See you in court.”
The dispute has also drawn attention to WLFI’s token economics. Sun’s complaint says the project tried to support prices artificially, restrict selling pressure, and take out large stablecoin loans using WLFI. Another source of tension is Sun’s separate $100 million investment in an officially licensed Trump-themed meme coin. Sun said that purchase had been pre-approved by a member of the Trump family.
Parts of the complaint remain redacted, leaving several key details unclear. Even so, the return of the 2022 arrest footage has created a second track of pressure around Zach Witkoff as the legal fight continues.