Key Takeaways
- • New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a state court on Oct. 22, 2026 to order NovaTech founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion to pay $1.37 billion, comprising $1.13 billion in disgorgement and $232.5 million in prejudgment interest, following an August 2025 default judgment.
- • Of the $1.16 billion in investor cryptocurrency deposited between August 2019 and May 2023, only $25.99 million (about 2.2%) reached the B2Broker trading account, and $18.19 million of that was lost, according to the filing's figures as calculated by TECHi.
- • At least $134.5 million in withdrawals was traced to wallets belonging to the Petions, more than five times the amount that reached trading, per the state's CoinPayments-based tracing.
- • Four top promoters agreed to pay a combined $5.98 million in disgorgement and accepted permanent industry bans, a sum that is roughly 0.4% of the amount sought from the founders.
- • With the founders outside U.S. jurisdiction, the $1.37 billion is a claim on paper rather than a realistic recovery for the more than 11,000 New Yorkers who lost tens of millions of dollars.
Summary
New York Attorney General Letitia James's office filed papers on Oct. 22 asking a state court to order collapsed crypto platform NovaTech's founders, Cynthia and Eddy Petion, to pay nearly $1.37 billion in disgorgement and prejudgment interest. The request follows a default judgment entered in August 2025 after the Petions failed to respond to a lawsuit the state filed in June 2024. The attorney general's office says the couple has since fled the country.
The state's filing traces NovaTech's money flows using CoinPayments transaction records. Investors deposited roughly $1.16 billion in cryptocurrency between August 2019 and May 2023, but NovaTech sent only $25.99 million to B2Broker, the trading platform provider it used. Traders lost about $18.19 million of that amount. The filing alleges at least $134.5 million in withdrawals went to wallets belonging to the Petions, with Cynthia authorizing the transfers. The state alleges purported trading profits and recruitment bonuses were paid from new investors' funds, a Ponzi structure layered on a pyramid recruitment scheme. NovaTech also falsely presented itself as a registered hedge fund broker licensed to trade cryptocurrency in the U.S., and advertised weekly returns of 2% to 4%.
The Petions previously promoted AWS Mining, which promised monthly returns of 15% to 20% before collapsing in 2019. They then launched NovaTech and recruited through prayer groups, WhatsApp chats, social media and Haitian Creole advertisements with religious messaging, according to the attorney general's office. James said the scammers "targeted immigrant and religious communities." More than 11,000 New Yorkers across several regions invested across the two schemes and lost tens of millions of dollars. The state also seeks about $6.15 million including interest tied to AWS Mining.
Four promoters, Martin Zizi ($2.9 million), Frantz Ciceron ($2.05 million), James Corbett ($750,000) and Ricardo Roy Sr. ($275,861), agreed to pay a combined $5.98 million in disgorgement for victims' benefit. They accepted permanent bans from the securities, commodities and cryptocurrency industries. The SEC separately charged the Petions in August 2024 over an alleged $650 million fraud.
Disgorgement and prejudgment interest are amounts the court fixes, not cash already collected or a final payment. Distribution to victims depends on locating assets, which is difficult with the founders abroad. The promoter settlements represent the most realistic near-term recovery. The filing is the largest monetary ask the attorney general's office has attached to a crypto fraud case, following a $200 million Galaxy Digital settlement in March 2025 and a more than $5 million Uphold settlement in April 2026.
The state's filing traces NovaTech's money flows using CoinPayments transaction records. Investors deposited roughly $1.16 billion in cryptocurrency between August 2019 and May 2023, but NovaTech sent only $25.99 million to B2Broker, the trading platform provider it used. Traders lost about $18.19 million of that amount. The filing alleges at least $134.5 million in withdrawals went to wallets belonging to the Petions, with Cynthia authorizing the transfers. The state alleges purported trading profits and recruitment bonuses were paid from new investors' funds, a Ponzi structure layered on a pyramid recruitment scheme. NovaTech also falsely presented itself as a registered hedge fund broker licensed to trade cryptocurrency in the U.S., and advertised weekly returns of 2% to 4%.
The Petions previously promoted AWS Mining, which promised monthly returns of 15% to 20% before collapsing in 2019. They then launched NovaTech and recruited through prayer groups, WhatsApp chats, social media and Haitian Creole advertisements with religious messaging, according to the attorney general's office. James said the scammers "targeted immigrant and religious communities." More than 11,000 New Yorkers across several regions invested across the two schemes and lost tens of millions of dollars. The state also seeks about $6.15 million including interest tied to AWS Mining.
Four promoters, Martin Zizi ($2.9 million), Frantz Ciceron ($2.05 million), James Corbett ($750,000) and Ricardo Roy Sr. ($275,861), agreed to pay a combined $5.98 million in disgorgement for victims' benefit. They accepted permanent bans from the securities, commodities and cryptocurrency industries. The SEC separately charged the Petions in August 2024 over an alleged $650 million fraud.
Disgorgement and prejudgment interest are amounts the court fixes, not cash already collected or a final payment. Distribution to victims depends on locating assets, which is difficult with the founders abroad. The promoter settlements represent the most realistic near-term recovery. The filing is the largest monetary ask the attorney general's office has attached to a crypto fraud case, following a $200 million Galaxy Digital settlement in March 2025 and a more than $5 million Uphold settlement in April 2026.
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