NY AG seeks $1.37B from NovaTech founders

New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked a court to order NovaTech founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion to pay $1.37 billion. The request follows an August 2025 default judgment entered after the founders failed to respond to the lawsuit. The founders fled the United States before that judgment was issued.

The Attorney General is seeking the return of about $1.13 billion in investor funds plus $232.5 million in interest. Data from payment processor CoinPayments shows investors deposited roughly $1.16 billion in crypto into NovaTech's wallet between August 2019 and May 2023. Only about $26 million was deposited with the platform's trading provider, B2Broker, for trading. NovaTech falsely marketed itself as a registered hedge fund broker licensed to trade crypto in the U.S. and advertised returns of 2% to 4% a week.

The motion separately seeks about $6.15 million, including interest, over AWS Mining. AWS Mining collapsed in 2019 and NovaTech collapsed in 2023. More than 11,000 New Yorkers lost tens of millions of dollars through NovaTech and AWS Mining. Promoters targeted Haitian and other immigrant communities through prayer groups, social media, and WhatsApp. Four people who recruited investors into NovaTech agreed to pay nearly $6 million in settlements to benefit victims. These four top promoters are permanently banned from the securities, commodities, and crypto industries.

The New York Attorney General sued NovaTech, AWS Mining, and other associated companies in June 2024.