Binance Cleared of $8M Lawsuit Over "Tinder Pig Butchering" Allegations

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A breath of relief as Binance is finally off the hook on the $8 million Tinder “pig butchering” lawsuit a Texas woman filed on March 22.

The news comes after Judge Mazzant ruled on the case where the plaintiff, a lady from Texas, accused Binance of having a hand in an eight million dollar loss. According to his ruling, the District Judge noted the plaintiff did not provide sufficient evidence of Binance’s involvement in the alleged scam.

Binance won dismissal from a lawsuit brought by a Texas woman who said she was swindled out of $8 million as part of a crypto fraud orchestrated by a man she met on Tinder https://t.co/EsTU0H5DWX

— Bloomberg (@business) May 23, 2023

The Involved Parties in The $8M Tinder Pig Butchering Lawsuit

Several parties are involved in this lawsuit. First, there is the plaintiff, a Texan lady named Divya Gadasalli. There are also several defendants from whom the lady needed injunctive relief, including:

Jerry Bulasa (a fellow Tinder user)
Binance Holdings Ltd
TD Bank
Abacus Federal Savings Bank
The Poloniex exchange

However, because of a lack of sufficient evidence, Judge Mazzant’s ruling automatically exempts Binance from this list. Because aside from the possibility that some of the stolen money might have been converted to cryptocurrency via Binance at some point, Texas did not appear to have been directly involved in any of these transactions.

For Binance, this ruling represents a small victory, as it continues to face regulatory scrutiny in the US. Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, are accused of violating the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) trading rules, manipulating markets, and other misconduct in a lawsuit filed by the commission in late March. Further, Rostin Behnam claimed Binance executives violated U.S. commodity laws.

No Binance Wasn’t Involved in the Scam

The lady complained the scam began on one of Tinder’s largest dating apps. According to the woman, Divya Gadasalli, a fellow Tinder user, Jerry Bulasa initially promised her financial prosperity and love.

However, she ended up losing $8 million. Basically, Jerry Bulasa tricked Gadasalli into channeling her money into a scheme. He built a strong connection and relationship with the lady before scamming her.

The lady blamed Binance, noting that the firm provided the scammer with crypto exchange services. Therefore, she basically needed injunctive relief. Although Binance was among the defendants in this case, the ruling by the district judge, exempted the firm from the list in this case.

According to Judge Mazzant, the plaintiff “cannot point to a single fact about how Binance is actually involved in this case.” Additionally, the firm was not subject to the court’s jurisdiction.

Furthermore, Gadasalli could not show that any fraud occurred in Texas. This was relevant and worth consideration since Binance and Binance.US was banned from operating in this region.

How Pig Butchering Scams Work

“Pig butchering” is just a fancy name for scamming. Technically, scammers “fatten-up” their victims before conning them. In this case, the scammer, Jerry Bulasa, built a relationship and a bond with the victim, Divya Gadasalli. He promised her love and financial prosperity. He went ahead and suggested an investment scheme. Unknowingly, the lady invested, and that is how she was conned.

What is Pig Butchering? Has there been an increase in this scam? How do scammers build a relationship with victims? How do they convince someone to send money or invest in cryptocurrency? What do you do if you become a victim? Learn more from SSA Umphress tonight on @FOX5Vegas. pic.twitter.com/QSAnu3XFuc

— FBI Las Vegas (@FBILasVegas) February 15, 2023

The example is typical of how this type of scam works. Basically, the scammers target the most vulnerable victims. Love and romance are two of the loopholes that these scammers explore.

A Reality Check Following the Lawsuit

The Binance lawsuit captures the grim realism of the circumstances. Unfortunately, con artists are only becoming more intelligent. Therefore, everyone must be vigilant and do due diligence before investing their emotions and finances. Furthermore, common sense and good judgment would come in handy in avoiding such scenarios and falling victim to scammers.

Therefore, the lawsuit brings much-needed attention to online scammers, especially in the cryptocurrency world. As much as we live in the digital age, we must be more careful to avoid being subject to scammers.