New York Attorney General Let James on October 22 announced settlements totaling nearly $6 million with four promoters tied to the NovaTech cryptocurrency fraud, and asked a court to order the scheme's fugitive founders to surrender more than $1.37 billion, including $232 million in interest, according to the attorney general's announcement.

The Founders Never Appeared in Court

The request targets Cynthia and Eddy Petion, who ran NovaTech, along with their companies. The pair never responded to the state's June 2024 lawsuit, and in August 2025 a judge entered a default judgment finding them liable and barring them from promoting or selling securities, commodities or cryptocurrencies in New York. A default judgment lets a court establish liability without a trial when defendants never answer a complaint. According to the attorney general, the couple fled the country.

The state's court filing asks the court to order $1,134,549,691 in disgorgement — the surrender of money obtained through the fraud — plus $232,473,894 in prejudgment interest (interest that accrues on the disputed amount before judgment is entered), for a NovaTech total of $1,367,023,585. It seeks about $6.2 million more over the earlier AWS Mining scheme.

The Petions also ignored a court order to hand over investor records and a full accounting. Without those records, the filing says, most NovaTech depositors appear only as usernames — such as “moneywhileyousleep” — that cannot be matched to real people with any certainty.

$1.16 Billion In, About $26 Million Traded

Investors deposited $1.16 billion between 2019 and 2023, according to the filing. Only about $26 million was sent to the trading platform, and $18.2 million of that was lost in trading, while more than $134.5 million was withdrawn to the Petions' own wallets.

The deposits flowed into a single payment wallet that, per the filing, only Cynthia Petion could control. A sliver was sent to the trading platform NovaTech licensed from B2Broker, a company that supplies trading technology to brokers, and most of that was lost. The advertised weekly returns of 2% to 4% were fabricated, the state says, and paid out of other investors' deposits.

The pitch ran through trusted networks — a pattern securities regulators call affinity fraud, in which schemes spread through religious, ethnic or other close-knit groups. The Petions reached Haitian communities through prayer groups, WhatsApp chats and Haitian Creole advertisements carrying religious messages, and falsely marketed NovaTech as a registered hedge fund broker licensed to trade crypto in the United States, according to the state. Their earlier venture, AWS Mining, promised 15% to 20% monthly returns before collapsing in 2019.

When NovaTech collapsed in 2023, tens of thousands of investors could not withdraw their funds. The state counts more than 11,000 New York victims across both schemes, among hundreds of thousands worldwide. The SEC brought a separate federal case in 2024.

Nearly $6 Million in Settlements Arrives Slowly

All four promoters are permanently banned from the securities, commodities and cryptocurrency industries. Their agreements total roughly $5.98 million.

Corbett's October agreement spreads his first $200,000 over eight $25,000 installments, one every six months. The remaining $550,000 comes due only once Corbett earns more than $80,000 a year, with 35% of income above that level going toward the balance. Unpaid amounts accrue 9% annual interest, and he must file sworn financial statements twice a year. The full balance becomes due at once if the state finds he misstated or omitted any material asset, and money he receives from settlements with multi-level marketing companies, including GS Partners, goes to the state up to what he still owes.

Ciceron's May agreement hands New York his rights to any distributions from the receiver — a court-appointed official who recovers and redistributes assets in fraud cases — in the CFTC's separate EminiFX fraud case, plus $1.35 million in cash: $850,000 within 30 days of the court signing the order, and $500,000 in four $125,000 installments due by the end of each year from 2026 to 2029. He settled without admitting or denying the allegations. Roy, who is Cynthia Petion's brother according to the filing, signed his agreement with the state in June 2024.

No Claims Process Yet

The announcement does not say how much of the promoters' money has been collected, who can claim it, or when payments to victims will begin, and the missing investor records will make any claims process harder to build. As other cases show, recovering assets and paying victims are separate steps.

Key dates ahead:

• Dec. 31, 2026: Ciceron's first $125,000 installment is due.
• Apr. 1, 2027: Corbett's first $25,000 installment is due.
• Pending: the court's ruling on the $1.37 billion request, and any claims process from the attorney general.

This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial or investment advice.

Originally reported by Coindoo.