New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked a court to order NovaTech founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion, along with their related entities, to pay $1.37 billion following accusations of operating a fraudulent crypto investment scheme. The state said more than 11,000 New Yorkers invested in NovaTech and the associated AWS Mining, both of which promised investors outsized returns despite lacking legitimate trading activity.
State demands over $1.3 billion in restitution and interest
The attorney general’s filing seeks $1.1345 billion in disgorgement of alleged illicit gains, in addition to $232.47 million in prejudgment interest, for a total requested payment of $1.367 billion. This action follows a default judgment in August 2025 after the Petions failed to respond to the state’s lawsuit. The court has already barred the Petions and NovaTech from engaging in securities, commodities, or crypto activities in New York, but the financial penalty is still pending a final decision.
Letitia James accused NovaTech of targeting religious and immigrant communities in the state, drawing in investors with misleading promises of returns from crypto trading and mining operations. As described in the court documents, many lost their savings after trusting the company’s offers.
In a separate case last month, a federal court ordered repayments totaling $31.48 million in a notable crypto fraud action. The sizable figure in the NovaTech litigation stands out against this recent backdrop, highlighting the scale of investor losses attributed to the alleged scheme.
James described the businesses as having lured individuals “with false promises of investment profits, only to rob people of their life savings.”
Most investor funds never used for real trading
Between August 2019 and May 2023, NovaTech received $1.1605 billion in cryptocurrency deposits through wallets tracked on CoinPayments. However, court filings show that only $25.99 million ever reached a trading platform, where trading losses amounted to $18.19 million.
Investigators claim NovaTech promised investors weekly returns of 2% to 4%, even though trading activity could not support these rewards. According to prosecutors, the company funded withdrawals and recruitment bonuses primarily with new investor deposits, rather than actual trading profits—a hallmark of classic Ponzi operations.
At least $134.5 million in investor funds were traced to personal wallets controlled by Cynthia and Eddy Petion. NovaTech’s recruitment efforts reportedly targeted communities via social media channels, messaging apps, and prayer groups, with a particular focus on Haitian-American communities in the New York area.
Court records indicate the vast majority of the money raised was never committed to legitimate trading activity and was instead diverted to insiders.
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After NovaTech’s collapse in 2023, tens of thousands of customers were left unable to recover their funds, with documented losses extending across the United States and internationally.
Promoters agree to settlements, face permanent industry bans
In related developments, New York reached settlements totaling nearly $6 million with four NovaTech promoters: Martin Zizi, Frantz Ciceron, Ricardo Roy Sr., and James Corbett. These agreements require payments intended for victims and permanently bar them from future financial services activity in the securities, commodities, and crypto sectors.
Payment amounts under the terms of these settlements are $2.9 million from Zizi, $2.05 million from Ciceron, $750,000 from Corbett, and $275,861 from Roy. The case against NovaTech originated with a June 2024 state lawsuit; AWS Mining, its predecessor, collapsed in 2019 after making similar promises of high monthly returns before the Petions launched NovaTech.
Investigations by the CFTC continue in several cases involving alleged fraudulent bonus-based recruitment and other crypto and forex schemes. In the NovaTech case, the court is now evaluating the attorney general’s requested $1.37 billion penalty against the company’s founders and affiliates.
