Lawsuit Filed in NY Federal Court Alleges “Pig Butchering” Crypto Fraud
On Friday, October 17, 2025, Srinivas Ginjupalli filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York against Chameleon Finance, Lakshmi Finance Center, Summit Fusion LLC, ELIZIR Co., Limited, Luxury Collection Inc., and Does 1–100, alleging a sophisticated investment fraud scheme that resulted in approximately $3 million in losses. Ginjupalli claims he was a victim of a “pig butchering” scheme, where fraudsters build trust before deceiving victims into investing in fake cryptocurrency assets.
According to the complaint, Ginjupalli was initially contacted in April 2025 through WhatsApp by an individual using the name “Casey Ross” associated with Lakshmi Finance Center (LFC), who offered stock advice. After gaining Ginjupalli’s trust, the defendants allegedly induced him to open an account at “Chameleon Finance/Chameleon Exchange,” where he underwent a KYC (know your customer) process. The platform appeared legitimate, displaying account information in a manner resembling a real trading platform.
To further build trust, the perpetrators reportedly allowed Ginjupalli to make small withdrawals initially, under $10,000. The complaint states that the perpetrators provided documents that appeared to be government records to legitimize the investment platform; however, Ginjupalli’s counsel’s investigation suggests these documents were fraudulent.
Ginjupalli initially transferred approximately $100,000 in increments of $5,000 from his Robinhood account. Subsequently, the LFC perpetrators allegedly persuaded him to deposit funds directly from his SoFi bank account into his Chameleon Finance account. These deposits, totaling about $3.7 million, were made through electronic funds transfers to recipient entities Luxury Collection Inc., Summit Fusion LLC, and Elizir Co., Limited, using a supposed third-party wire transfer service called “C2C services.” A significant portion of these funds were wired to Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas in New York.
The complaint alleges that the defendants incentivized Ginjupalli to make additional transfers by offering increasing VIP “status” within LFC. The WhatsApp group included purported VIP members who claimed to have sold homes and cars to invest more with Chameleon and LFC. Ginjupalli believes these phone numbers were spoofed, and the messages were generated by bots or the perpetrators themselves.
Ginjupalli became suspicious when he attempted to make larger withdrawals, such as to pay for his son’s tuition, and his account was restricted. Chameleon then insisted on additional deposits to cover commissions and service fees, setting a deadline of October 15, 2025.
Following this, Ginjupalli sought legal counsel, who discovered that the Chameleon website lacked terms of service justifying the additional fees or withdrawal limitations. Neither Chameleon nor LFC appeared to have a physical location, phone number, or mailing address, with the only point of contact being an email address.
After an unproductive email exchange, counsel grew suspicious that the email responses were being generated by a bot or some other form of generative artificial intelligence. An automated authenticity test was sent, but the email account failed.
Ginjupalli, through his counsel, sent fraud-notice letters to the banks involved in the wire transfers, including Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, notifying them that they were holding proceeds from bank fraud and wire fraud and demanding the reversal of the wire transfers and freezing of the assets in the accounts. He also submitted an IC3 form to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. One wire transfer was successfully stopped.
The complaint asserts causes of action including fraud, fraudulent inducement, replevin, conversion, imposition of a constructive trust, and possession of stolen property under Georgia law. Ginjupalli seeks compensatory damages of at least $3.7 million, punitive damages, replevin, a constructive trust, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs. He has also demanded a jury trial.
Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.
