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Wednesday, October 22, 2025

A cryptocurrency promoted in January by US first lady Melania Trump was part of a sophisticated fraud that "leveraged celebrity association and borrowed fame' to sell legitimacy to unsuspecting investors," a new legal filing has alleged.

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Melania used as 'window dressing' in 'pump and dump' fraud scheme resulting in millions lost

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-- alternet.org (@alternet.org) Oct 22, 2025 at 1:30 PM

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Further on this mess:

In April, crypto investors brought a federal class action lawsuit against Benjamin Chow, cofounder of crypto exchange Meteora, and Hayden Davis, cofounder of crypto venture capital firm Kelsier Labs, among other defendants, accusing them of a multimillion-dollar fraud involving a single memecoin, $M3M3.

Later, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, expanding the allegations to include racketeering activity. They claimed the pair had colluded to rig the market for $LIBRA, a coin promoted by Javier Milei, president of Argentina, which collapsed in value shortly after launch.

On Tuesday, the plaintiffs sought the court's permission to file yet another amended complaint, based on alleged information provided by an anonymous whistleblower. With Chow acting as the "commander," the pair launched, pumped, and dumped at least 15 crypto coins, the proposed second amended complaint alleges, including $MELANIA. The scheme allegedly inflicted millions of dollars in losses on unwitting investors.

Trump, who is not a named defendant in the lawsuit, was used as "window dressing for a crime engineered by Meteora and Kelsier," the proposed second amended complaint alleges. The filing further states that the plaintiffs do not allege that Trump or Milei "operated the scheme."


A-OK, as long as the Queen of Scowl made a bundle.

Gawd, these people.

#1 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2025-10-22 05:45 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

"Unwitting investors"

BS.

Should read "stupid f^*%ing morons."

#2 | Posted by jpw at 2025-10-22 08:58 AM | Reply

The US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) investigates crimes spanning 200 federal laws.

"These types of investigation involve crimes that use the mails to facilitate fraud against consumers, business, and government. Federal statutes that surround these types of investigations include mail fraud and other criminal statutes when they are tied to the mails, such as bank fraud, identity theft, credit card fraud, wire fraud, and Internet/computer fraud. Mail fraud is a statute that is used in prosecuting many white collar crimes, including Ponzi schemes, 419 frauds, and other white collar crimes where the mail was used to facilitate the fraud."


#3 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-10-22 01:17 PM | Reply

She is silicon-stuffed... stretched... stitched... stapled... botoxed and medicated to expressionless perfection. All done to hide the fact that she is an aging old biddy headed for a mausoleum on a golf course.

This is the crowd that shames tatted and studded "trans libruls"... for doing basically the same thing on a smaller scale on GoFundMe sites.

What if Epstein files reveal she's born a dude?

#4 | Posted by RightisTrite at 2025-10-23 11:34 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

No surprise here. Cryptocurrencies are vehicles for criminal activity and naked speculation--nothing more or less. In this particular case the two merge and hijinks ensued. Investors got what they asked for--a wild, risk-filled ride...

#5 | Posted by catdog at 2025-10-23 12:19 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Billionaire money launderer pardoned after months of boosting Trump's crypto venture

Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of crypto exchange Binance, received a pardon after months of boosting a crypto venture owned by President Donald Trump's family.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump signed off on the pardon on Wednesday. Advisers said that the president sympathized with claims that the Biden administration prosecuted Zhao for political reasons.

In 2023, Binance pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering requirements. The pardon cleared the way for the world's largest crypto exchange to resume operations in the U.S.

Binance has been a key supporter of World Liberty Financial (WLF), a crypto business tied to Trump's family. Bloomberg reported that Binance helped create, promote, and support WLF's USD1 stablecoin.

The Financial Times recently reported that Trump and his family have earned over $1 billion in profit through crypto ventures. Eric Trump, however, told the outlet that the family's earnings were "probably more" than had been estimated.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump had "exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency."

Raw Story

#6 | Posted by Derek_Wildstar at 2025-10-23 01:35 PM | Reply

I'm not surprised. Fools and their money are soon parted. It probably isn't the first time and, now that their name is on the "quick buck sucker list," it probably won't be the last.

#7 | Posted by Twinpac at 2025-10-24 06:47 AM | Reply

A cryptocurrency promoted in January by US first lady Melania Trump was part of a sophisticated fraud that "leveraged celebrity association and borrowed fame' to sell legitimacy to unsuspecting investors," a new legal filing has alleged.

Slight edit:
A candidacy promoted throughout 2024 by the GOP was part of a sophisticated fraud that "leveraged celebrity association and borrowed fame' to sell legitimacy to unsuspecting voter," a new legal filing has alleged.

#8 | Posted by MBlue at 2025-10-24 12:16 PM | Reply

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