New York Attorney General Letitia James is pursuing a judgment amounting to $1.37 billion against the operators of NovaTech and its predecessor, AWS Mining. These two cryptocurrency investment schemes are alleged to have defrauded hundreds of thousands of investors globally, accumulating losses exceeding $1 billion.
The accused founders, Cynthia and Eddy Petion, have reportedly failed to appear in court and, according to the Attorney General’s office, have fled the country.
In a statement, Attorney General James asserted, “NovaTech and AWS Mining scammed thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers by telling them they were making a safe investment when, in reality, they were victims of a pyramid scheme. These scammers targeted immigrant and religious communities with the promise of a better life but instead robbed them of their life savings.”
The operations of AWS Mining and subsequently NovaTech were heavily reliant on promoters who actively recruited within Haitian and other immigrant communities, utilizing prayer groups, WhatsApp chats, and advertisements in Haitian Creole to reach potential investors.
AWS Mining marketed crypto mining contracts with assurances of monthly returns between 15 and 20 percent and total returns of 200 percent within 15 months. The company collapsed in 2019, after which the Petions initiated NovaTech, presenting it as a registered hedge fund broker, while promising weekly trading returns of 2 to 4 percent — which could potentially yield over 140 percent annually.
According to prosecutors, these promised returns were fictitious. Documentation from B2Broker, the provider of NovaTech’s white-label trading platform, indicates that of the over $1 billion invested by individuals from 2019 to 2023, only approximately $26 million was ever engaged in trading activities. Furthermore, NovaTech’s traders incurred losses amounting to $18.2 million. Returns to earlier investors derived from subsequent deposits rather than actual trading. Following NovaTech’s collapse in mid-2023, tens of thousands of investors found themselves unable to withdraw their funds.
In addition to the $1.37 billion judgment, the Attorney General is also seeking $134.5 million that the Petions allegedly transferred to their personal wallets from an investor account solely controlled by Cynthia Petion, alongside $4.7 million linked to the earlier AWS Mining scheme. A default judgment issued in August 2025 has already prohibited the couple and their enterprises from engaging in the securities, commodities, and cryptocurrency industries.
Separately, four prominent promoters associated with the scheme have consented to pay nearly $6 million in disgorgement to the victims and have accepted similar industry bans.
Thank you for visiting our site. You can get the latest Information and Editorials on our site regarding bitcoins.
