New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked a state court to order the founders of the collapsed crypto and forex platform NovaTech to pay approximately $1.37 billion. The request comes after an August 2025 default judgment against Cynthia and Eddy Petion and related companies, who fled the United States and did not respond to the state’s lawsuit.

The filing seeks about $1.13 billion in disgorgement of investor funds plus roughly $232.5 million in prejudgment interest. Separately, James announced settlements totaling nearly $6 million with four of the scheme’s top promoters, who also face permanent bans from the securities, commodities and cryptocurrency industries.

Default Judgment and the Scale of Alleged Losses

The Petions and affiliated entities were found liable by default on August 4, 2025. The court already barred them from participating in securities, commodities or crypto businesses. The current motion focuses on determining the monetary award.

According to court documents, investors deposited approximately $1.16 billion in cryptocurrency into NovaTech’s CoinPayments wallet between August 2019 and May 2023. Cynthia Petion was the only authorized user on the account. Of that total, only about $26 million reached the platform’s trading provider, B2Broker. Trading losses on that amount totaled roughly $18.2 million.

Prosecutors calculated disgorgement after subtracting the funds sent for trading. At least $134.5 million moved from NovaTech’s wallet to addresses controlled by the Petions. The state is also seeking approximately $6.15 million, including interest, tied to the earlier AWS Mining operation.

How the Schemes Operated

NovaTech marketed itself as a registered hedge fund broker licensed to trade cryptocurrency in the United States. It advertised weekly returns of 2% to 4%, equivalent to more than 140% annually, and claimed investors could withdraw funds at any time. In practice, weekly payouts and recruitment bonuses were funded by new deposits rather than trading profits.

The platform collapsed in 2023, leaving tens of thousands of investors unable to access their money. More than 11,000 New Yorkers were among the hundreds of thousands of participants worldwide.

Before launching NovaTech, the Petions were leading promoters of AWS Mining, which promised monthly returns of 15% to 20% from cryptocurrency mining. That operation collapsed in 2019. Court records state that Cynthia Petion acknowledged in a WhatsApp message making at least $3 million from AWS Mining.

Recruitment focused on immigrant communities, particularly Haitian New Yorkers. Promoters used prayer groups, social media, WhatsApp chats and advertisements in Haitian Creole that incorporated religious messaging to build trust and attract investors.

Settlements With Promoters

Alongside the demand for $1.37 billion from the founders, James secured agreements with four individuals who helped promote the schemes: Martin Zizi, Frantz Ciceron, Ricardo Roy Sr. and James Corbett.

Under the settlements, Zizi will pay $2.9 million, Ciceron $2.05 million, Corbett $750,000 and Roy $275,861. The combined nearly $6 million is intended to benefit victims. All four are permanently barred from the securities, commodities and cryptocurrency industries.

The attorney general first sued NovaTech, AWS Mining and associated parties in June 2024, alleging more than $1 billion in investor losses. Federal regulators later charged the Petions and others in connection with what they described as a multimillion-dollar fraud.

The court has yet to rule on the exact monetary judgment against the Petions. Because the couple left the country and did not participate in the litigation, questions remain about the practical recovery of any awarded funds.