‘Hawk Tua’ star embroiled in growing meme coin lawsuit

Hawk Tua influencer Hayley Welch will be named as a defendant in an amended lawsuit accusing her of making more than $325,000 from the alleged fraudulent sale of the $HAWK meme coin.

Cryptocurrency law firm Berwick Law told Protos it has filed a request for leave so it can file an amended complaint in the Eastern District of New York.

Welch’s manager, Johnny Foster, who also owns the management company 16 Minutes LLC, is the latest addition to the amended lawsuit.

Forster is said to have set up the Welch Company with various crypto promoters to capitalize on her sudden fame. He also said, “Meme Token Creation and Monetization Agreement” and had to promote $HAWK to her.

Read more: Hayley Welch ‘woke up’ weeks after Hawk Tua crypto crash

As part of the agreement, Welch was entitled to an immediate payment of $125,000 and an additional $200,000 upon completion of various promotional milestones in what was described as a “deceptive marketing campaign” for the tokens.

The complaint alleges that these payments transformed Welch “from a reluctant celebrity to a key component of a tailored marketing funnel designed to attract retail buyers who trusted her.”

Mr. Welch, along with all of his fellow defendants, is charged with unjust enrichment, but not on other charges, including breach of contract, securities violation, false advertising, common law fraud, and violations of the New York General Commercial Code.

But the lawsuit alleges that defendants Larson, Sweeper, Memetic Labs, Thor, Overhere, Tua Foundation, Chow, Meteora, DLL, Forster, 16 Minutes, Welch, and Doo Wallet Cluster “have formed an integrated corporation capable of carrying out a highly orchestrated pump-and-dump scheme targeting unsophisticated retail investors.”

The amended complaint includes allegations of fraud.

The amended complaint will also include various fraud charges related to the creation, promotion, and further transactions of $HAWK.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants (excluding Welch) of making “material misrepresentations and omissions regarding the nature, security, value, distribution, liquidity, and promised utility of the $HAWK token.”

The various alleged misrepresentations include:

• Claims liquidity was locked forever
• Utilities such as podcast integration, games, and subscription tiers are claimed to be in development
• Claims that tokens will be distributed fairly and community-driven
• Claims project was built with compliance and investor protection in mind
• Claim the tokens were not part of a fraudulent scheme

The complaint also states that “all technical components work together, including pre-sale allocations, float limits, sniper configuration, liquidity provisioning, Meteora’s infrastructure, and wallet cluster coordination. Create a carefully constructed on-chain roadmap against fraud.”