Court rules in favor of HelbizCoin investors, class lawsuit to go ahead
A United States District Court has allowed a nearly three-year-long class action lawsuit against the creators of HelbizCoin to go ahead, as per a court ruling filed on Sept. 1.
The class action suit was first brought against Helbiz, its CEO Salvatore Palella, and its partners in 2020, with an amended complaint filed in March 2022.
The case involves an Italian electric scooter-sharing company HelBiz that raised $38.6 million in an ICO and issued an ERC-20 token with one of the founders of Ethereum, Anthony Di Iorio, in 2018, according to the complaint.
A group of investors, numbering as many as 20,000, alleged that HelbizCoin was a rug pull and fraudulent pump-and-dump scheme with the firm making false statements and promises to induce people to purchase the coins. They claimed that Helbiz kept most of the money from the ICO for itself.
On Sept. 1, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York partially ruled in favor of investors who filed the class action suit, with the court granting the motions to dismiss in part and denied them in part.
The court however dismissed all claims against certain defendants entirely, including Paysafe, Skrill, Decentral, and Alphabit, finding a lack of personal jurisdiction over Paysafe and Alphabit. The court also dismissed some claims against the remaining defendants for failure to state a claim, including breach of contract, tortious interference, and certain securities claims.
However, Judge Louis Stanton also ruled that plaintiffs adequately stated claims for fraud, price manipulation, violations of securities laws, commodities laws, the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act, and unjust enrichment against some defendants.
“Among other matters, the case found that the ERC-20 token is a security under federal law,” the investor’s lawyer Michael Kanovitz told Cointelegraph.
The investors’ lawsuit was initially dismissed by a lower court judge in January 2021, citing a 2010 Supreme Court precedent that limited the extraterritorial reach of federal securities laws, according to a report from Reuters.
However, the case was revived in October 2021 when a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the lower court judge erred in its decision, and an amended complaint was filed in March 2022.
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In emailed comments to Cointelegraph, Kanovitz also pointed out that the complaint included a number of charts that use the Ethereum ledger to “prove spoof trading in the ICO.” It also included evidence of multiple “genesis wallets” that were provided to the initial investors in Ethereum, such as Mr. Di Iorio, he said before adding:
“It is a compelling story that shows how blockchain transparency can be used to flush out criminals.”
The complaint alleged that Di Iorio, an advisor to Helbiz, published false and misleading statements about the HelbizCoin ICO in Bitcoin Magazine but did not provide evidence that he made the statements.
“This is a speculative conclusion at best and thus fails to adequately allege that Di Iorio made false or misleading statements,” the ruling read.
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The government has vowed to push for a “major new crackdown” on people smuggling gangs with a £100m cash boost for border security.
The investment will support the pilot of the new “one in, one out” returns agreement between the UK and France, and other efforts to crack down on small boat crossings.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said this new funding will “strengthen” the government’s “serious and comprehensive plan” to dismantle the business model of criminal gangs smuggling migrants across the Channel.
But the Conservatives have claimed the cash injection will make “no real difference”, with shadow home secretary Chris Philp branding the move a Labour “gimmick” and a “desperate grab for headlines”.
The funding will pay for up to 300 new National Crime Agency (NCA) officials, “state-of-the art” detection technology and new equipment to “smash the networks putting lives at risk in the Channel”, ministers say.
It will also allow the Border Security Command, the NCA, the police and other law enforcement agency partners to “strengthen investigations targeting smuggling kingpins and disrupt their operations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and beyond”.
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July: 25,000 migrants have crossed Channel
The new investment comes as official figures show more than 25,000 people have arrived on small boats so far in 2025 – a record for this point in the year.
Ms Cooper said: “In the last 12 months, we have set the foundations for this new and much stronger law enforcement approach – establishing the new Border Security Command, strengthening the National Crime Agency and UK police operations, increasing Immigration Enforcement, introducing new counter terror style powers in our Border Security Bill, and establishing cooperation agreements with Europol and other countries.
“Now this additional funding will strengthen every aspect of our plan, and will turbo-charge the ability of our law enforcement agencies to track the gangs and bring them down, working with our partners overseas, and using state-of-the-art technology and equipment.
“Alongside our new agreements with France, this will help us drive forward our Plan for Change commitments to protect the UK’s border security and restore order to our immigration system.”
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The £100m investment will also support new powers to be introduced when the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill becomes law, the Home Office said.
This includes the introduction of a UK-wide offence to criminalise the creation and publication of online material that promotes a breach of immigration law, such as the advertisement of small boat crossings on social media.
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Research suggests about 80% of migrants arriving to the UK by small boat used internet platforms during their journey – including to contact agents linked to smuggling gangs.
While it is already illegal to assist illegal immigration, ministers hope the creation of a new offence will give police more powers and disrupt business models.
Mr Philp accused the Labour government of having “no serious plan, just excuses, while ruthless criminal gangs flood our borders with illegal immigrants”.
He said: “The British public deserves real action, not empty slogans and tinkering at the edges.”
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