Floyd Mayweather is being sued over his alleged involvement in a crypto-currency scam.
In court papers obtained by GIVEMESPORT, Mayweather, 45, American reality TV star Kim Kardashian, 41, and Boston Celtics NBA star Paul Pierce, 44, have been accused of essentially promoting worthless tokens, according to a new class-action lawsuit filed against cryptocurrency EthereumMax (EMAX) in the California Federal Court.
New York resident Ryan Huegerich is suing the defendants after he 'suffered investment losses as a result of Defendants' conduct'.
The suit, which showbiz outlet The Hollywood Reporter first broke, accuses the stars of colluding with EMAX co-founders Steve Gentile and Giovanni Perone as part of an organised pump-and-dump scheme, 'causing investors to purchase these losing investments at inflated prices.'
It comes after the boxing legend teased an exhibition bout with YouTube star 'Money Kicks' on the helipad of the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah hotel in Dubai on February 20.
Mayweather officially retired from professional fighting in 2017 after beating UFC star Conor McGregor in ten rounds, but has taken part in a couple of exhibitions since then in an unofficial comeback of sorts.
The complaint reads: “The Company’s executives, collaborating with several celebrity promoters, (a) made false or misleading statements to investors about EthereumMax through social media advertisements and other promotional activities and (b) disguised their control over EthereumMax and a significant percent of the EMAX Tokens that were available for public trading during the Relevant Period."
Mayweather also faces an accusation of violating a 2018 settlement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission after he allegedly failed to disclose payment he received for promoting the cryptocurrency.
The court papers also claim Mayweather, Kardashian and Pierce’s "improper promotional activities generated the trading volume needed for all the Defendants to offload their EMAX Tokens onto unsuspecting investors."
"While Plaintiff and Class members were buying the inappropriately promoted EMAX Tokens, Defendants were able to, and did, sell their EMAX Tokens during the Relevant Period for substantial profits.”
Mayweather was seen wearing shorts with the EthereumMax URL embroidered on them during his exhibition bout with Logan Paul, where he claimed to have made more than $100 million dollars from the 'legalised bank robbery'.
Speaking to Fox News before the fight, the champion boxer praised cryptocurrency and encouraged people to buy his NFTs (non-fungible tokens).
The 45-year-old said: "Everybody should have their own mind and choose what cryptocurrency they wanna choose.
"What I believe in is being independent and doing what you wanna do and it’s about people winning in life.
"And I push people to be winners in life. Cause I’m a winner
"Cryptocurrency, it’s the new wave, it’s what everybody’s doing."
READ MORE: Money Kicks isn’t scared of Floyd Mayweather after Logan Paul fight