Four recent class action lawsuits were filed by Miami class action specialist Adam Moskowitz against high-profile organizations and individuals for promoting failed crypto exchanges FTX and Binance. Citing court documents, Fortune reported that Cristiano Ronaldo, Major League Baseball, Formula 1, and its racing team Mercedes-Benz along with global advertising agency, Dentsu, have been named as the defendants.
Moskowitz has added the four class action suits to the courtroom team’s ongoing efforts to seek damages from three dozen other celebrities who promoted the failed crypto exchange FTX and its struggling rival Binance.
The litigations have come less than a month after FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was found guilty on seven different fraud-related charges and less than a week after Binance founder, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, pleaded guilty to violating numerous federal statutes.
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Allegations Against Ronaldo
Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo was one-time a worldwide pitchperson for Binance. Three of the lawsuits accuse Ronaldo of “engaging in mass solicitation of investments in unregistered securities on behalf of Binance,” as per reports.
Prosecutors stated that Ronaldo’s partnership with Binance was designed to use the positive reputation of the footballer to convince consumers that Binance was a safe place to buy and sell cryptocurrency. Binance co-founder CZ Zhao was recently ordered to not leave the US by a federal judge and has since resigned from his role as CEO. His crypto exchange has been ordered to pay $4.3 billion in forfeitures and make a “complete exit” from the U.S.
The Case of the Mercedes F1 Team
F1 team Mercedes AMG Petronas, which is backed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group, was named as a necessary player in pushing the FTX fraud, the court papers mentioned, per a Telegraph UK report. The team principal of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, singed a deal with FTX in 2021 and featured the cryptocurrency exchange’s logo across its cars, merchandise, and social media feeds.
The chief executive also heaped praise on FTX calling it the “world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges” at the time of signing. The team also hosted an event alongside FTX to promote the first Miami Grand Prix in 2022. The lawsuit accuses the F1 team of pursuing “fast money” from the deal, and for allegedly “aiding” the fraud and helping promote unregistered securities, as per the report.
Trouble for MLB
The Major League Baseball was the first major sports league to sign a $150 million promotional deal with FTX in 2021. MLB umpires wore FTX patches on their sleeves and other MLB officials, signed a five-year promotional deal with FTX in 2021. However, the deal was canceled the next year after the cryptocurrency site collapsed. The MLB has also been accused of “aiding the group’s massive, multi-billion-dollar global fraud".
What are the Prosecutor’s Seeking?
The courtroom team is seeking billions of dollars in damages from celebrities and organizations. In an exclusive interview with Fortune, Moskowitz said that he along with legal legend David Boies has already filed three active cases against celebrities and billionaires for touting tokens and accounts at digital exchanges.
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The big names in all of the class action suits range from sports stars like Tom Brady and Steph Curry to investors and actors like Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary supermodel Gisele Bündchen.
Prosecutors have alleged Sam Bankman-Fried used customer funds to finance various high-profile sponsorship deals.
