- Benjamin Pasternak, founder of the Solana token launchpad Believe, faces criminal charges of strangulation and assault from an incident on March 31.
- He is also embroiled in a civil class action lawsuit alleging deceptive token sales, broken promises, and diluted holdings costing investors hundreds of millions.
- The native token for the Believe platform has plummeted 99.8% from its peak, falling to a recent price of $0.0007.
Benjamin Pasternak, founder of the Solana-based token launchpad Believe, was arrested and charged in New York on Tuesday. Prosecutors charged him with one count of second-degree strangulation and two counts of third-degree assault over a March 31 incident, according to court records. Pasternak pleaded not guilty and his next court date is scheduled for June 11.
Meanwhile, he faces mounting civil legal troubles from a token sales class action filed in March. A suit alleges he ran deceptive schemes under three token names, collected roughly $54 million in fees, and diluted holders by about 33%. Consequently, a lawyer for the plaintiffs stated, “Our team is personally concerned by the public reports of domestic violence involving Ben Pasternak”.
The lawsuit also alleges he broke at least 12 public buyback promises. Holders who missed a mandatory migration deadline saw their token balances permanently destroyed, with estimated consumer losses reaching hundreds of millions of dollars.
The platform’s native token has crashed 99.8% since its all-time high, according to CoinGecko data. It fell nearly 15% on the day of the arrest report to $0.0007. These legal issues compound previous accusations, including from Avi Patel of Kled, who accused Pasternak of breaching OTC agreements by dumping tokens.
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