New York Seeks $1.37 Billion Judgment in NovaTech Crypto Fraud
New York’s attorney general is asking a court for a massive $1.37 billion judgment against the operators of the NovaTech crypto Ponzi scheme.
New York Seeks $1.37 Billion Judgment in NovaTech Crypto Fraud
New York's attorney general is asking a court for a massive $1.37 billion judgment against the operators of the NovaTech crypto Ponzi scheme.
New York Seeks Record Judgment Over NovaTech Crypto Fraud
New York Attorney General Letitia James is attempting to secure a massive $1.37 billion judgment involving the NovaTech crypto fraud and its predecessor, AWS Mining. These two successive cryptocurrency investment schemes allegedly defrauded hundreds of thousands of investors globally out of more than $1 billion.
According to statements from the attorney general's office, the alleged founders, Cynthia and Eddy Petion, have fled the country and never appeared in court. The legal action follows an August 2025 default judgment that already banned the couple and their companies from participating in the securities, commodities, and cryptocurrency industries.
Targeting Vulnerable Communities With False Promises
Prosecutors stated that the schemes relied heavily on promoters who recruited victims in immigrant and religious communities, particularly targeting Haitian communities through WhatsApp chats, prayer groups, and advertisements in Haitian Creole.
AWS Mining initially sold crypto mining contracts promising monthly returns of 15 to 20 percent before collapsing in 2019. Following its collapse, the Petions launched NovaTech, marketing it as a registered hedge fund broker that promised weekly trading returns ranging from two to four percent.
Fabricated Returns and Promoter Settlements
Records from B2Broker, which supplied the white-label trading platform for NovaTech, revealed that only about $26 million of the over $1 billion deposited by investors between 2019 and 2023 was ever actually traded. Furthermore, traders lost $18.2 million of that amount, meaning returns paid to earlier investors came entirely from newer deposits.
In addition to the primary judgment sought against the founders, the attorney general announced that four of the scheme's top promoters have agreed to settlements requiring them to pay nearly $6 million in disgorgement to victims while accepting identical industry bans.
About The Author
