NY AG seeks $1.3B from NovaTech founders in fraud case

New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked a court to impose approximately $1.3 billion in damages and disgorgement against the founders of NovaTech, Cynthia and Eddy Petion. The request, detailed in an affirmation filed on October 22, follows a default judgment entered by the court on August 4, 2025, after the founders failed to respond to or appear in the lawsuit initially filed in June 2024.

The $1.3 billion figure represents a request for monetary relief to the court, not a sum of money already recovered for investors. The filing seeks to determine the financial consequences of the fraud, a procedural step distinct from a new criminal conviction or a completed asset recovery. The announcement does not establish that this amount has reached victims or that the judgment is guaranteed to be collectible.

Separate Promoter Settlements Announced

In the same October 22 announcement, the attorney general’s office disclosed nearly $6 million in settlements with four promoters of the scheme. These settlements are separate from the claim against the Petions. The specific amounts listed are $2.9 million from Martin Zizi, $2.05 million from Frantz Ciceron, $750,000 from James Corbett, and $275,861 from Ricardo Roy Sr.

All four promoters face permanent bans from the securities, commodities, and cryptocurrency industries. The timing of these agreements varies; for instance, the consent papers for Martin Zizi were filed in November 2025. The October announcement aggregates these figures for public disclosure but does not indicate that all agreements were signed during that specific week.

Investment Schemes Targeted Immigrant Communities

The case involves investment packages sold through NovaTech and an earlier business, AWS Mining. According to the attorney general, the schemes targeted Haitian and other immigrant communities through religious networks, social media, and messaging groups. The original mining operation offered high returns and recruiting bonuses, while NovaTech later marketed cryptocurrency trading packages.

The affirmation notes that the cryptocurrency label described how investors supplied funds, rather than what the operators did with the money. For affected investors, the next substantive development will be the court’s decision on the requested monetary relief and any subsequent recovery process. The announced settlements and the requested award address different defendants and different stages of the legal proceedings.