What To Know:
- Class action lawsuit accuses Meteora founder Benjamin Chow of running a memecoin fraud using names of Melania Trump and Javier Milei.
- $MELANIA and $LIBRA tokens allegedly used public figures as props in a coordinated “pump-and-dump” scheme.
- Argentina’s anti-corruption office later cleared President Milei of any wrongdoing tied to the LIBRA promotion.
A new class action lawsuit has accused Benjamin Chow, founder of Meteora, of orchestrating a large-scale memecoin fraud involving crypto named after prominent public figures, including the current US First Lady Melania Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei.
Melania, Milei: A Prop for $LIBRA, $MELANIA Scam
The lawsuit, filed under Hurlock v. Kelsier Ventures, alleges that Chow and his collaborators created and promoted several deceptive crypto projects under the Meteora brand. Among them, two coins, LIBRA and MELANIA, stand out for their high-profile associations.
According to the filing, the defendants “borrowed credibility from real-world figures and themes” to market the memecoins. The complaint claims that the names of Melania Trump and President Milei were used merely as attention-grabbing props to draw investors into what was, actually, a coordinated liquidity trap. The plaintiffs emphasize that the public figures themselves were not responsible for the alleged misconduct.
In January, Melania Trump promoted a Solana-based memecoin bearing her name, only two days after her husband launched his own official token. The $MELANIA coin initially spiked in value but soon lost almost all of it. It fell by 99% within months, as insiders reportedly sold off large quantities of tokens.
A similar pattern was seen playing out with the LIBRA token linked to President Milei. Marketed as a way to support small Argentine businesses, $LIBRA briefly soared before crashing nearly 90% within hours. Milei quickly deleted his promotional posts once the token’s value evaporated. Blockchain analytics later revealed connections between the wallets behind the $MELANIA and $LIBRA coins, leading to the current lawsuit.
The complaint paints Chow as the “center of the enterprise.” It claims that while Meteora publicly operated as an automated market maker, Chow allegedly used the same name and infrastructure to run a parallel network of “pump-and-dump” schemes.
Court filings also name several associates, including Ng Ming Yeow ( aka ‘Ming’), Meteora and Jupiter co-founder, and members of the Davis family, who managed Kelsier Ventures. Together, they are accused of launching and promoting at least fifteen similar cryptos that followed the same blueprint. The lawsuit details five of those projects in particular.
Hayden Davis, Kelsier’s CEO, has been identified as a key player in the alleged operation. Although he gave multiple interviews after LIBRA’s collapse, new evidence suggests that he carried out token launches at Chow’s direction. Internal Telegram chats submitted in court show Davis allegedly acknowledging Chow’s leadership in the project.
Chow resigned from Meteora in February, shortly after reports about the memecoin operations began circulating. He has not commented on the latest allegations.
Despite the serious claims, the case remains far from settled. In August, a judge allowed $57.6 million in USDC connected to the LIBRA coin to be released, expressing skepticism that the plaintiffs could ultimately prove their allegations.
Back in Argentina, the country’s anti-corruption office cleared President Javier Milei of any wrongdoing related to the LIBRA memecoin promotion. The decision came on June 5, 2025.
In its resolution, the agency said Milei did not breach any public service ethics rules. His X post endorsing the cryptocurrency, it stated, was made “in his personal capacity, as an economist and not as a public official.” The finding effectively shut down a growing political storm that had called for a criminal probe into the president’s actions.
For Milei, the timing of the clean chit raised eyebrows.
The anti-corruption office operates under the Justice Ministry, and its current head was appointed by the Milei administration in December 2023. That connection led to questions about potential conflicts of interest.
Interestingly, the same office had initially opened an investigation into Milei at his own request. Weeks later, the probe was quietly dismissed, officially clearing the president of any misconduct.
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