New York AG seeks $1.37B from NovaTech founders

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking a $1.37 billion judgment against NovaTech founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion and related companies over an alleged Ponzi scheme that left investors unable to withdraw their funds.

The requested amount includes about $1.13 billion in investor funds and $232.5 million in interest, according to a Thursday court filing. A court found the Petions and the companies liable by default in August 2025 after they failed to respond to the lawsuit.

Investors deposited about $1.16 billion into NovaTech’s cryptocurrency wallets between August 2019 and May 2023, the filing says. Only about $26 million was deposited with B2Broker, NovaTech’s trading provider, for trading, according to the attorney general’s office.

The complaint alleged that NovaTech promoted cryptocurrency and foreign-exchange trading while promising high returns and bonuses for recruiting new investors. Promoters reached Haitian and other immigrant communities through prayer groups, social media and WhatsApp, according to the complaint.

More than 11,000 New Yorkers lost tens of millions of dollars through NovaTech and an earlier cryptocurrency-mining scheme called AWS Mining, according to the attorney general’s office. NovaTech collapsed in 2023, leaving tens of thousands of investors unable to withdraw their funds.

The motion separately seeks about $6.15 million, including interest, over AWS Mining, which collapsed in 2019. James sued NovaTech, AWS Mining and other associated companies in June 2024.

Four people who recruited investors into NovaTech have separately agreed to pay nearly $6 million in settlements intended to benefit victims. The attorney general’s office has not provided details on how recovered funds would be distributed or how the judgment could be enforced.