Logan Paul, a YouTube star and professional wrestler, has been named with a number of associates in a proposed class-action lawsuit over non-fungible tokens (NFT) sales for a project Paul promoted called CryptoZoo, which never materialized.
“[The] Defendants promoted CryptoZoo’s products using Mr. Paul’s online platforms to consumers unfamiliar with digital currency products, leading to tens of thousands of people purchasing said products,” the filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin division. “Unbeknownst to the customers, the game did not work or never existed, and the Defendants manipulated the digital currency market for Zoo Tokens to their advantage.”
Paul’s associates Danielle Strobel, Jeff Levin, Ebbie Ibanez, Jake Greenbaum (who goes by the Twitter handle Crypto King), and Ophir Bentov were also named in the suit, according to a court filing.
This suit comes after a series of investigative reports by YouTube journalist "CoffeeZilla" who outlined in a three-part series why he believed the project was fraudulent.
Counsel for the plaintiff alleges that Paul and his associates executed a “rug pull,” a term in Web3 where a crypto developer solicits token or NFT purchasers by promising certain benefits, but the project never materializes or the developers abandon the project shortly after launch and abscond with the purchaser’s funds.
"As part of Defendants’ NFT scheme, Defendants marketed CryptoZoo NFTs to purchasers by falsely claiming that, in exchange for transferring cryptocurrency to purchase the CryptoZooNFT, purchasers would later receive benefits, including, among other things, rewards, exclusive access to other cryptocurrency assets, and the support of an online ecosystem to use and market CryptoZoo NFTs," according to the filing.
Instead, the suit alleges, the defendants transferred millions of dollars of crypto into wallets controlled by the defendants.
Plaintiffs allege that Paul and his associates engaged in fraud because they knew that the game was non-functional and had an obligation to disclose their “material failures” to purchasers.
Additionally, the plaintiffs, among other things, allege that Paul and associates engaged in fraudulent representation, a conspiracy to commit fraud, violated Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and engaged in unjust enrichment.
“The wrong done to Plaintiff by Defendants was attended by fraudulent, malicious, intentional, willful, wanton, or reckless conduct that evidenced a conscious disregard for Plaintiff’s rights. Therefore, Plaintiff seeks punitive damages in an amount to be proven at trial,” the filing reads.
The proposed class action includes any of the 20,000 token holders of CryptoZoo’s NFTs.
