New York AG seeks $1.3 billion from NovaTech founders after default judgment

New York Attorney General Letitia James is pursuing $1.3 billion in damages from the founders of NovaTechFx after the couple left the United States and a court entered a default judgment against them. The case targets a scheme that prosecutors allege drained more than $1 billion from investors over roughly four years before collapsing in 2023. The default judgment was entered in August 2025, after Cynthia and Eddy Petion failed to appear in court following their departure from the country. What NovaTech actually did with investor money Between August 2019 and April 2023, NovaTech collected more than $1 billion in digital asset deposits from investors globally. Of that amount, prosecutors say only approximately $26 million was ever actually traded. Investor returns were paid using incoming deposits from new participants rather than any real trading profits. NovaTech collapsed in May 2023, locking thousands of investors out of their accounts and their funds. Before NovaTech, the Petions were also connected to an operation called AWS Mining, which prosecutors describe as a separate scheme that promised high returns on crypto mining investments. AWS Mining collapsed in 2019. NovaTech a...