Significant Legal Action Against Fraudulent Investment Schemes
Letitia James, the Attorney General of New York, recently reported a significant achievement in addressing fraudulent investment schemes. Her office has finalized settlements totaling about $6 million with four individuals connected to the crypto-based fraud operations, NovaTech and AWS Mining. Additionally, she is pursuing a staggering $1.3 billion in further financial penalties from the founders of these companies.
Details of the Settlements
This announcement, made on October 22, 2024, highlighted settlements reached with promoters Martin Zizi, Frantz Ciceron, Ricardo Roy Sr., and James Corbett, who are accused of victimizing hundreds of thousands globally, including over 11,000 residents in New York alone. The court’s ruling prohibits these individuals from engaging in the securities, commodities, and cryptocurrency sectors permanently. The total amount from the settlements, approximately $5.98 million, is designated to assist victims of these fraud schemes.
Exploitation of Vulnerable Communities
Attorney General James emphasized the exploitation faced by immigrant and religious communities, who were lured into these investment schemes under the false pretense of guaranteed wealth.
“These scammers targeted immigrant and religious communities with the promise of a better life but instead robbed them of their life savings,”
stated James.
Background of Legal Actions
This legal action follows a lawsuit that James filed in June 2024, which aimed at holding NovaTechFx, AWS Mining, their founders, and other promoters accountable for orchestrating illegal pyramid schemes. Allegations suggest that these companies specifically exploited Haitian communities by leveraging religious events, social media platforms, and WhatsApp groups while promising exceptionally high returns on investments.
Individual Settlements and Financial Restitution
The individual settlements require Zizi to pay nearly $2.9 million, while Ciceron is to provide $2.05 million. Corbett and Roy’s payments are set at $750,000 and $275,861, respectively. Prosecutors assert that these promoters misled investors about the nature of the investment products and acted without the proper licensing necessary for broker activity. They further encouraged recruitment of new investors through promises of commissions.
Additionally, the New York Attorney General’s Office is seeking financial restitution directly from NovaTech’s founders, Cynthia and Eddy Petion, who have left the country and did not respond to the lawsuit. A default judgement was issued against them by a New York court on August 4, 2025, indicating clear evidence of their wrongdoing and blocking them from involvement in cryptocurrency and securities trades. The precise financial penalties are still under review, with the latest filings indicating a potential disgorgement of $1.134 billion related to NovaTech, alongside $232.5 million in pre-judgment interest.
NovaTech’s Operations and Collapse
Reports suggest that NovaTech generated around $1.16 billion in investor funds via its CoinPayments account from August 2019 through May 2023; however, a mere $25.99 million was transferred to its trading platform. Findings further disclose that Cynthia Petion authorized the transfer of at least $134.5 million to personal wallets, complicating the effort to retrieve funds for the victims.
Prior to NovaTech, AWS Mining had also failed to deliver on its promises, collapsing in 2019 after making false claims of delivering returns of 15% to 20% monthly. After this failure, the Petions launched NovaTech and advertised cryptocurrency and foreign exchange investment packages claiming returns of 2% to 4% weekly. Their promotional strategy heavily targeted immigrant groups, especially within the Haitian community, utilizing adverts in Haitian Creole.
Investigations and Broader Crackdown
However, investigations revealed that these claims regarding trading returns were fabricated, as payments to earlier investors were primarily funded by the deposits of newer participants. The eventual collapse of NovaTech in 2023 left a trail of devastated investors unable to reclaim their cryptocurrency.
This case is part of a broader crackdown by Attorney General James on fraudulent activities in the cryptocurrency space, reflecting ongoing enforcement efforts against companies and executives accused of misrepresenting investment possibilities. Recent actions include a settlement with former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky, who agreed to a lifetime ban from the industry and financial penalties, and over $5 million secured from Uphold for misleading promotional practices related to the CredEarn product.
