New York AG Seeks $1.37B From NovaTech Founders After Default Judgment
New York's attorney general is seeking $1.367 billion in disgorgement and interest from NovaTech's founders, who allegedly fled the country. Investors deposited $1.16 billion, but only $26 million reached trading. Four promoters settled for nearly $6 million.
New York Attorney General Letitia James wants NovaTech founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion, along with related companies, to pay about $1.367 billion over an alleged crypto Ponzi scheme. The request came in an October 22 court filing. The court has not yet ruled on it.
The figure breaks down into roughly $1.13 billion in disgorgement, the forced return of ill-gotten gains, plus about $232.5 million in prejudgment interest. Wu Blockchain summarized the request on X, citing the same split and the $1.16 billion in crypto deposits behind it.
The filing follows an August 2025 default judgment, entered after the defendants failed to respond to or appear in the lawsuit. According to the AG's office, the couple fled the country. That judgment barred the defendants from securities, commodities and crypto activity in New York but deferred the question of financial relief, which this motion now addresses. An affirmation filed in New York v. Nova Tech Ltd. et al. supports the request.
How the scheme allegedly worked
Investors deposited about $1.1605 billion in crypto into NovaTech wallets between August 2019 and May 2023, according to the filing. Only about $25.99 million went to trading provider B2Broker, and traders lost roughly $18.19 million of that. Prosecutors allege NovaTech promised weekly returns of about 2% to 4% and paid withdrawals and recruitment rewards from new investor deposits.
The filing also alleges that Cynthia Petion authorized at least $134.5 million in crypto withdrawals to wallets belonging to herself and Eddy Petion.
More than 11,000 New Yorkers invested in NovaTech and the earlier AWS Mining scheme, and the AG's office says they lost tens of millions of dollars. The complaint alleged that promoters targeted Haitian and other immigrant communities through prayer groups, social media and WhatsApp. The motion separately seeks about $6.15 million, including interest, over AWS Mining.
Promoter settlements
Four NovaTech promoters, Martin Zizi, Frantz Ciceron, Ricardo Roy Sr. and James Corbett, settled for about $5.98 million combined and accepted permanent bans from securities, commodities and crypto activity. Zizi will pay $2.9 million, Ciceron $2.05 million, Corbett $750,000 and Roy $275,861. The funds are intended to benefit victims, according to the AG's press release.
Collection is the open question
AWS Mining collapsed in 2019 after promising monthly returns of 15% to 20%. The Petions later set up NovaTech, which collapsed in 2023. James sued NovaTech, AWS Mining and associated companies in June 2024.
A judgment of this size does not guarantee recovery. The AG's office has not said how recovered funds would be distributed or how a judgment could be enforced against defendants who allegedly left the country.
The case adds to a run of New York enforcement actions in crypto, including the $35M settlement and lifetime ban won from Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky. Here, the $1.37 billion request exceeds the roughly $1.16 billion investors deposited, because interest sits on top of disgorgement. The distance between that headline number and the $5.98 million secured from promoters so far shows how much depends on two things: whether the court grants the request, and whether any assets can be reached.
