Meme Coin Scam: Melania Trump and Javier Milei Named in Lawsuit

The crypto world has been shaken by yet another scandal. A new class-action lawsuit filed in the United States accuses Benjamin Chow, founder of Meteora, of orchestrating a large-scale meme coin fraud — one that exploited the names of Melania Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei to lure investors. According to the filing, the meme coins MELANIA and LIBRA, marketed as symbols of loyalty and freedom, were in fact part of a coordinated pump-and-dump scheme led by Chow and his partners at Kelsier Ventures and the Davis family.

How the Scheme Worked Court documents describe a sophisticated setup involving at least 15 meme coins — each designed to attract retail investors using the credibility of famous personalities, before draining liquidity in a matter of days. The most notorious examples were:

🔹 MELANIA (on Solana) – launched just days after Donald Trump’s official token, its price skyrocketed at first, then crashed 99% as the team quietly offloaded over $30 million worth of tokens, according to blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps.

🔹 LIBRA (linked to Javier Milei) – promoted as a patriotic Argentine project supporting small businesses, it met the same fate, plunging 90% within hours. Investigators later found that wallets tied to MELANIA and LIBRA were interconnected, suggesting both tokens were part of the same coordinated manipulation.

Celebrity Faces, Silent Exits The lawsuit states that Melania Trump and Javier Milei were not directly involved, but that their names and likenesses were used to lend false credibility to the projects. Benjamin Chow allegedly ran automated trading systems under Meteora Labs to manipulate markets, while his network — Hayden, Charles, and Gideon Davis of Kelsier Ventures — handled liquidity and marketing coordination. Notably, Hayden Davis admitted in an interview earlier this year that he held around $100 million following the LIBRA crash and hinted that certain token sales were “timed strategically” to avoid price drops.

A Web of Companies and Shadow Deals The investigation now links Chow’s operations at Meteora with other entities such as Jupiter, suggesting a broader ecosystem of shell firms used to launder profits and conceal liquidity traps. Lawyers for the plaintiffs describe this as one of the largest meme coin frauds of 2025, involving tens of millions of dollars and hundreds of affected investors across the U.S. and South America.

Legal Showdown Ahead The case, Hurlock v. Kelsier Ventures, could become a landmark moment for crypto regulation. If the court confirms that Chow and his partners used celebrity identities to commit financial fraud, it could set the first legal precedent recognizing meme coins as fraudulent securities. Neither Chow nor Kelsier Ventures have yet responded to the allegations. Meanwhile, both Melania Trump and President Milei have issued statements through their representatives denying any involvement or financial connection to the projects.

The Crypto World Braces for Impact As the community scrambles to uncover the full extent of the connection between Meteora Labs and other meme coin networks, both MELANIA and LIBRA tokens have already collapsed to near zero. If the allegations prove true, this could mark the biggest reputational blow to meme coins since the Dogecoin era — a harsh reminder of how easily trust can be exploited in the digital asset world. As one analyst put it: “This isn’t just about money — it’s about trust. In crypto, trust takes years to build… and seconds to lose.”

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