New York demands $1.3B from NovaTech and 11,000 victims face delay

New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a state court on Oct. 22 to order cryptocurrency investment company NovaTech, its founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion, and related companies to pay more than $1.3 billion, following a 2025 default ruling on liability.The filing seeks $1,367,023,585, including interest, in damages from the NovaTech fraud. It advances the state’s claim for victims, but does not establish that this sum has been awarded, collected or distributed.According to the filing, an Aug. 4, 2025 default order found the defendants liable and ordered investor damages and disgorgement, or the surrender of money obtained through the fraud. The court left the amounts to be determined through written submissions.The New York Attorney General’s office says more than 11,000 New Yorkers lost tens of millions of dollars in NovaTech and the related AWS Mining scheme. It says the schemes targeted immigrant and religious communities, particularly Haitian New Yorkers, through prayer groups, social media and WhatsApp.The state says payments to investors and promoters came from other investors’ deposits, and argues those withdrawals should not reduce the amount NovaTech must surrender....