New York Attorney General Letitia James is pursuing over a billion dollars from the operators of a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme that infiltrated prayer groups and immigrant communities with false promises of easy riches.
Attorney General James filed a motion seeking $1.3 billion in damages and disgorgement from the founders of NovaTech, Cynthia and Eddie Petions, following a default judgment in August after they fled the US.
In June 2024, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued cryptocurrency trading firm NovaTechFX and cryptocurrency mining company AWS Mining Pty Ltd., accusing them of targeting immigrant communities, particularly Haitian New Yorkers, with fraudulent promises of high investment returns. According to the lawsuit, the companies promoted their schemes through prayer groups, social media and WhatsApp group chats while operating illegal pyramid schemes.
AWS Mining, its promoters and the Petions promised investors 15% to 20% monthly gains, 200% returns on investments within 15 months and bonuses for signing up new investors. However, the company generated insufficient returns, if any, to fund its promised monthly profits and recruitment bonuses. The operation ultimately collapsed in 2019, leaving investors with millions of dollars in losses.
Following the collapse of AWS Mining, the Petions launched NovaTech and recruited investors by promising high returns and lucrative referral bonuses. They targeted minority and religious communities, particularly Haitians, using prayer groups, WhatsApp groups chats, Haitian Creole advertisements and religious messages designed to appeal to their faith.
The Petions misrepresented NovaTech as a registered hedge fund broker licensed to trade cryptocurrency in the US. They also advertised weekly trading profits of around 2% to 4%, offered recruitment bonuses and assured investors they could withdraw their funds and profits at any time.
Over $1 billion in crypto was deposited with NovaTech between 2019 and 2023, yet less than $26 million was actually traded before the platform ultimately collapsed in May of 2023, leaving tens of thousands of investors without access to their digital assets.
Four top promoters of AWS Mining contracts and NovaTech’s trading packages, Frantz Ciceron, James Corbett, Ricardo Roy, Sr. and Martin Zizi, have already agreed to pay nearly $6 million in settlements and face permanent bans from securities, commodities, and crypto businesses.
Attorney General Letitia James is condemning the scheme.
“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. My office remains committed to cracking down on unregistered cryptocurrency dealers, and we will always stand up for New Yorkers who have been targeted by these merciless scams.”
The motion follows an August 2025 default order holding the defendants jointly and severally liable for Martin Act violations and illegal chain distribution schemes.
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