New York Sues Over $1B Crypto Fraud Targeting Immigrants

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued two cryptocurrency organizations and their advocates for defrauding hundreds of thousands of Haitian and other immigrant victims of more than $1 billion by exploiting their religious faith

James claimed in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in a state court in Manhattan that NovaTech Ltd received over $1 billion in investment nearly four years before its collapse in May 2023.

However, only $26 million was allocated for trading.

Additionally, she stated that AWS Mining Pty Ltd made a false claim two years before its 2019 collapse that it could treble investors’ money within 15 months through mining, a process in which computers verify cryptocurrency transactions and generate new cryptocurrency.

Prayer groups, social media, and WhatsApp, occasionally in the Creole language, were purportedly employed to target victims.

Cynthia and Eddy Petion, co-founders of NovaTech, are among the 12 defendants. The couple, who are married, purportedly reside in Panama.

James stated that Cynthia Petion referred to herself as the “Reverend CEO” and informed investors that NovaTech was God’s vision.

However, she privately referred to herself as the “Zookeeper” and disparaged her investors as a “cult” that “agrees with everything you say.”

The contact information for the Petions, NovaTech AWS, and their counsel was not immediately accessible.
James stated that both frauds were pyramid schemes in which companies provided incentives to attract new investors.

She also claimed that NovaTech was a Ponzi scheme in which older investors received “profits” and bonuses from the deposits of newer investors.

“These cryptocurrency companies targeted immigrant and religious communities with promises of financial freedom but instead stole their money and drained their life savings,” James stated in a public statement.

The lawsuit demands a prohibition on the securities industry, civil damages, and restitution for the victims.