Melania Trump and Javier Milei used as ‘props’ in meme coin fraud, lawsuit alleges

A new class action lawsuit portrays Meteora founder Benjamin Chow as the mastermind behind the infamous Libra And Melania meme coins, claiming that the notable public figures – First Lady Melania Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei – who promoted them are not responsible for the alleged “crimes” associated with the “scam tokens.”

The claims come courtesy of the latest documents Hurlock v. Kelsier Venturesa fraud and racketeering class action lawsuit listing Meteora, Chow and others as defendants. The complaint specifically focuses on the launch of five tokens, with the Milei-promoted LIBRA and the Trump-linked MELANIA being the most prominent of the bunch.

“Defendants derived credibility from real-world figures or themes – such as the ‘official Melania Trump’ coin (MELANIA), [and] the ‘Argentine revival’ coin (LIBRA) tied to it President Javier Milei,” the complaint reads. “These faces and brands were used as props to legitimize what was effectively a coordinated liquidity trap. Plaintiffs do not allege that these public figures were guilty; they were merely the backdrop for a crime masterminded by Meteora and Kelsier.”

The First Lady promoted a Solana meme coin featuring her own name in January — just two days after her husband, President Trump, released his official token. The MELANIA coin rose quickly earlier crashed 99% in the following months as the meme coin team quietly dumped tokens.

Similarly, Argentinian President Milei promoted the LIBRA crypto tokenthat was branded as a tool to finance small Argentinian businesses. It also rose in value before quickly dropping 90% within hours – and Milei soon deleted his posts. On-chain analytics company Bubble cards found one connection between the wallets used to launch MELANIA and LIBRA, resulting in the aforementioned class action lawsuit.

Rather than blaming these notable figures, prosecutors claim Chow “was at the center of the enterprise.” The filing alleges that Meteora’s automated market maker business was completely separate from Chow’s “brand, infrastructure and code base” to run “pump-and-dump” tokens, which also operated under the name Meteora.

“Chow gathered a small group of trusted collaborators: Ng Ming Yeow (“Ming”), co-founder of Meteora and Jupiter; and the Davis family, trading through Kelsier Ventures (Hayden, Charles, and Gideon Davis) to carry out the fraud,” the complaint states. “Together, they launched and marketed at least 15 tokens that followed an identical blueprint; this complaint describes five.”

Hayden Davis, the CEO of Kelsier Ventures, found himself at the center of the debacle after he… flood of interviews after the collapse of LIBRA. However, the filing now claims that Davis “conducted at least 15 token launches at Chow’s direction” and that the broader Kelsier firm worked “under Chow’s direction.” [Chow’s] instructions.”

Chow has resigned from Meteora in February when details of the meme coin launch emerged. Chow didn’t respond Declutter‘s request for comment on X or Telegram.

When Declutter asked the law firm representing the plaintiffs, Burwick Law, why it believes Chow was central to the operation, the firm emphasized private Telegram screenshots from Davis who explained that he was working under Chow’s command.

However, in August a judge has ordered that $57.6 million in USDC linked to the Libra meme coin should be unfrozen because the judge was “skeptical” that prosecutors would succeed in their case.

Kelsier Ventures did not respond Declutter‘s request for comment.