Lawsuit alleges Melania and Javier Milei used as props in memecoin fraud scheme

A U.S. class-action lawsuit filed on Thursday alleged that Meteora founder Benjamin Chow is accused of leading the MELANIA and LIBRA memecoin scams. The litigation alleges that Chow used First Lady Melania Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei as props in the launch of the tokens.

Investors claimed in the lawsuit that Melania and Milei are not to blame for the alleged crimes related to the scam tokens. The legal filing also alleges that Chow coordinated at least 15 pump-and-dump tokens with Kelsier Ventures and the Davis family. 

Lawsuit links Chow to at least 15 pump-and-dump tokens

The claims were filed in the fraud and racketeering class action lawsuit, Hurlock v. Keslier Ventures, with Meteora, Chow, and others listed as defendants. The filing cites at least five tokens as part of the scam, but the Milei-promoted LIBRA and Melania’s MELANIA were the highest-profile of the bunch.

The lawsuit alleged that the defendants banked on the credibility of real-world figures or themes, including the official Melania Trump coin (MELANIA) and the Argentine rival coin (LIBRA) tied to President Javier Milei. The complaint claimed that the high-profile individuals and brands were used as props to legitimize what was actually a coordinated liquidity trap. 

Melania Trump launched her own Solana memecoin in January, a few days after President Trump launched his official token, TRUMP. MELANIA surged in price after the launch, but dropped nearly 99% in the following months as the token’s team quietly dumped the memecoins. 

Bubblemaps reported in April that the team quietly sold $30 million worth of MELANIA. The blockchain analytics firm alleged at the time that no one from the MELANIA team addressed the movement or selling of the tokens.

Argentine President Milei’s LIBRA crypto token suffered the same fate as MELANIA, skyrocketing in value before rapidly dropping 90% in a matter of hours. LIBRA was also branded as a tool to fund small Argentine businesses. Bubblemaps later found a link between the wallets used to launch MELANIA and LIBRA, which led to the litigation. 

The token’s launch strategist and CEO of Kelsier Ventures, Hayden Davis, didn’t provide any explanation for the movement of the tokens at the time. Milei denied having any prior knowledge of the Viva La Libertad Project and said he decided not to continue promoting it after becoming aware of the connection.

KIP Protocol, a crypto and AI firm with prior dealings with the Argentine government, claimed that Milei had a meeting with Davis on January 30, which it did not know of. The firm distanced itself from the project, stating that it neither managed nor directed the token launch process nor profited from the token launch.

Plaintiffs claim Chow was behind the memecoin fraud

The plaintiff did not blame the notable figures for the token scams, but rather alleged that Chow was the mastermind behind the scheme. The complaint also claimed that Meteora’s automated market maker business was completely different from Chow’s brand, infrastructure, and codebase, which was used to run pump-and-dump tokens.

The lawsuit revealed that Chow brought together a small group of collaborators, including Ng Ming Yeow, co-founder of Meteora and Jupiter, and the Davis family (Hayden, Charles, and Gideon Davis), acting through Kelsier Ventures, to commit the scam.

Hayden Davis was connected to the memecoin fraud after conducting several interviews following the collapse of LIBRA. He told Barstool Sports founder and memecoin tastemaker Dave Portnoy in February that he was holding around $100 million after LIBRA went down.

Davis also acknowledged that extracting value from LIBRA’s launch was a behind-the-scenes effort to ensure the token’s longevity. He also admitted that the memecoin was sniped by its developers to beat other traders to the token and prevent them from dropping the token’s price.

However, the lawsuit now claims that the tech executive executed at least 15 token launches at Chow’s direction, but the lawsuit only details five of them. The complaints also alleged that the broader Kelsier firm worked under Chow’s instructions.

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