New York Officials Seek Over $1.37 Billion in Damages From Crypto Scam Operators

Officials ask court to order more than $1.37 billion back to investors

New York officials are asking a court to order the operators of two failed cryptocurrency investment schemes to pay more than $1.37 billion. Officials say the schemes defrauded hundreds of thousands of investors worldwide out of more than $1 billion.

The operators, Cynthia and Eddy Petion, did not appear in court. According to the Attorney General’s office, they fled the country.

What New York is asking the court to order

• Repayment of more than $1 billion for investment losses reported by investors.
• Repayment of $134.5 million withdrawn to wallets controlled by Cynthia Petion.
• Repayment of $4.7 million tied to the earlier scheme.

Officials say the requested total comes to about $1.37 billion.

What happened with the two schemes

The first scheme was called AWS Mining. It sold contracts that promised monthly returns of 15 to 20 percent. It stopped working in 2019.

The Petions then launched a second scheme called NovaTech. It was described to investors as a registered hedge fund broker and promised weekly trading returns of two to four percent.

Officials say those weekly returns were made up. They used records from B2Broker, which supplied the trading platform for NovaTech. Those records show that between 2019 and 2023, more than $1 billion was deposited by investors. Only about $26 million was ever traded, and that trading lost $18.2 million.

Officials say that when NovaTech stopped working in mid-2023, many investors could not withdraw their funds. Returns paid to earlier investors came from new deposits.

Officials say the scams targeted specific groups

Officials say promoters recruited people through prayer groups, chats in WhatsApp, and advertisements in Haitian Creole.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said the schemes “scammed thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers by telling them they were making a safe investment.”

She added that the scammers “targeted immigrant and religious communities with the promise of a better life but instead robbed them of their life savings.”

What has already been decided in court

A court entered a default judgment in August 2025. That order bars the Petions and their companies from the securities, commodities, and cryptocurrency industries.

Separately, four of the top promoters have agreed to pay nearly $6 million to victims. They also accepted the same industry bans.

Where the money went

Officials say the Petions moved $134.5 million from an investor account solely controlled by Cynthia Petion into wallets they controlled.

What is still unknown

It is not clear how much, if any, of the $1.37 billion requested by New York can actually be recovered. The Petions are outside the country, and the court has not yet entered a final judgment for that amount.

Sources

• Bitcoin Magazine