New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked a court to order the fugitive founders of the collapsed cryptocurrency pyramid scheme NovaTechFx to pay approximately $1.37 billion in damages and stolen funds, while securing nearly $6 million in settlements and lifetime industry bans from four top promoters who recruited everyday investors.
By Ana Gonzalez | October 25, 2026
The Hook
For years, scammers operating fraudulent cryptocurrency investment clubs believed they had a foolproof escape plan: collect digital tokens from everyday families, siphon off the funds, and flee across international borders before regulators could catch up. This month, New York Attorney General Letitia James delivered a forceful message that neither offshore flight nor the middleman excuse will shield fraudsters from the law.
According to official announcements from the New York Attorney General’s Office, state prosecutors have filed a court motion seeking approximately $1.37 billion—often cited broadly as a $1.3 billion enforcement push—against Cynthia and Eddy Petion, the fugitive married founders of NovaTechFx (also known simply as NovaTech) and their affiliated corporate entities. Alongside that massive monetary demand against the vanished founders, the state has locked in nearly $6 million in concrete settlement recoveries from four high-ranking promoters who pitched both NovaTechFx and its predecessor scheme, AWS Mining, to unsuspecting savers.
What does this mean for your portfolio? If you are a retail investor navigating a market where Bitcoin is trading at $80,614.00, Ethereum is at $2,354.43, and Solana sits at $101.86 according to CoinGecko data, this enforcement crackdown highlights a crucial shift in crypto regulation. State regulators are no longer just chasing the masterminds at the top of a pyramid scheme. They are actively seizing bank accounts and cryptocurrency holdings from the domestic recruiters, social media influencers, and community leaders who convince their neighbors to hand over their life savings.
On-Chain Evidence
Think of a public blockchain like a glass bank vault where every deposit slip is permanently etched in stone. While NovaTechFx marketed itself as a licensed, high-tech cryptocurrency and foreign-exchange trading platform that generated steady weekly profits for its members, investigators at the New York Attorney General’s Office followed the actual trail of funds—and uncovered a staggering gap between what investors were told and what really happened to their money.
According to court filings reported by CryptoBriefing, LCX, and the New York Attorney General’s Office, the financial trail revealed the true scale of the operation between August 2019 and May 2023:
- Over $1.16 billion in investor crypto deposits — Flowing into NovaTechFx from more than 200,000 investors worldwide, including more than 11,000 New Yorkers.
- Only about $26 million actually traded — Out of the more than $1.16 billion deposited by everyday people, investigators found that only a tiny fraction was ever placed onto legitimate trading platforms.
- Approximately $1.37 billion in sought relief — The state’s court filing against Cynthia and Eddy Petion breaks down into roughly $1.13 billion in investor disgorgement (returning ill-gotten gains) plus approximately $232.5 million in prejudgment interest, following an August 2025 default judgment entered after the founders fled the United States and ignored the state’s 2024 lawsuit.
- Nearly $6 million recovered from four top promoters — Prosecutors secured binding financial settlements and permanent New York industry bans against four key recruiters: Martin Zizi ($2.9 million), Frantz Ciceron ($2.05 million), James Corbett ($750,000), and Ricardo Roy Sr. ($275,861).
Instead of putting investor funds to work in the cryptocurrency markets as promised, the overwhelming majority of that $1.16 billion was used in a classic Ponzi-style loop. New deposits were recycled to pay fake “trading returns” and recruitment bonuses to earlier participants, while millions more were funneled directly into personal accounts controlled by the founders and their inner circle of promoters.
The Core Conflict
At the heart of the NovaTechFx and AWS Mining enforcement action is one of the most painful conflicts in modern consumer finance: how affinity fraud hijacks community trust, and how regulators can hold decentralized networks of recruiters accountable when the bosses run away.
Unlike traditional Wall Street scams that rely on cold calls from strangers, NovaTechFx spread through tight-knit immigrant communities—specifically targeting Haitian New Yorkers and diaspora networks. According to the New York Attorney General’s Office, promoters used religious gatherings, prayer groups, WhatsApp chats, and social media events to pitch the platform as a faith-driven path to financial freedom. When a trusted community leader or church acquaintance shows off screenshots of steady weekly payouts, regular savers let their guard down.
Before its collapse, several of the same promoters had recruited victims into AWS Mining, an earlier cryptocurrency mining scheme that promised automatic payouts from overseas computer farms before shutting down and wiping out customer balances. Rather than walking away when AWS Mining collapsed, top recruiters simply migrated their networks of followers directly into NovaTechFx to keep collecting referral commissions.
For years, middle-tier and top-tier promoters in multi-level crypto schemes argued that they were merely enthusiastic customers sharing an opportunity, blaming the offshore founders when the platform froze withdrawals in 2023. By forcing Martin Zizi, Frantz Ciceron, James Corbett, and Ricardo Roy Sr. to surrender nearly $6 million and accept lifetime bans from the securities, commodities, and cryptocurrency industries in New York, Attorney General Letitia James has shattered that legal defense. Under state securities and fraud laws, if you profit from recruiting your neighbors into an unregistered pyramid scheme, you can be held financially liable for the wreckage.
Market Implications
Why should a regular investor who only buys mainstream cryptocurrencies care about a state crackdown on a collapsed pyramid scheme? Because enforcement actions like this draw a bright legal line between legitimate digital asset investing and fraudulent yield traps—a distinction that protects the reputation and liquidity of the entire market.
Right now, major cryptocurrencies represent a mature, multi-trillion-dollar asset class. With Bitcoin trading at $80,614.00, Ethereum at $2,354.43, and Solana at $101.86, everyday investors have access to regulated spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and licensed domestic brokerages that hold real assets on a one-to-one basis. Yet whenever prices hold at elevated levels, unregulated “trading clubs” pop up on social media promising to beat the market with secret algorithms and guaranteed weekly returns.
The New York Attorney General’s dual strategy—pursuing a $1.37 billion court order against fugitive founders while clawing back nearly $6 million from local promoters—sends three clear signals across the crypto landscape:
- Promoters are now primary financial targets — Regulators know that founders who flee the country are hard to collect from immediately. Going after domestic recruiters who stayed behind provides a tangible pool of money to return to defrauded families.
- State attorneys general are filling enforcement gaps — Even as federal agencies in Washington debate broader cryptocurrency rulemaking, state prosecutors are aggressively using existing anti-fraud laws to police retail scams.
- Referral commissions are not safe — Anyone paid a bonus to bring new investors into an unregistered crypto pool risks having those commissions legally stripped away years later through disgorgement orders.
The Verdict
While a court request for $1.37 billion against fugitive founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion does not mean a billion dollars is sitting in a state bank account waiting to be mailed back tomorrow, the nearly $6 million seized from top promoters represents real money headed toward victim restitution. More importantly, it establishes a powerful deterrent against the promoter networks that keep crypto Ponzi schemes alive.
For your own wallet, the lesson from the NovaTechFx saga is simple and timeless. First, never hand your cryptocurrency over to a platform that promises guaranteed weekly or monthly trading profits—real markets go down as well as up, and anyone promising steady, risk-free trading returns is almost certainly paying old members with new members’ money. Second, be deeply skeptical of any investment program that pays people bonuses for recruiting their friends, family, or congregation members. If you stick to regulated exchanges or hold your own keys in a personal wallet, no fugitive founder can ever lock you out of your savings.
Disclaimer
The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
what gets me is the payout screenshots kept coming while withdrawal questions sat pinned for months. every pyramid telegram runs the exact same script and people still fall for the vouching
1.37 billion owed and the founders are still on the run while four promoters walk away with lifetime bans and a 6 million dollar settlement. regular investors will be lucky to see cents on the dollar
thats how these pyramids always end. promoters settle for pennies, the bosses vanish, and the AG gets a headline. at least the bans mean they cant recruit for the next one
6M recovered against 1.37B owed. the settlement math is a rounding error, the lifetime bans are the only real penalty here
lifetime bans as the only real penalty says everything. the 6 million split four ways still leaves promoters ahead on commissions they took in 2022 and 2023
promoters keeping their 2022 commissions while the settlement splits pennies four ways is the part that stings. bans stop the next scheme, they dont refund this one
bans and 6M against 1.37B owed, the math is brutal. clawback needs to hit the 2022 commissions or its theater
clawback has to hit the 2022 and 2023 commissions or its theater. the bans stop the next recruiting rotation, they do nothing for the families already paid in
clawing the 2022 commissions is the only math that works. six million split four ways is a rounding error against 1.37 billion
cents on the dollar if that. by the time a judgment lands those wallets have been through three mixers minimum
1.37 billion ordered and the founders are still on the run somewhere. good luck collecting a dime of that. at least the four promoters caught lifetime bans
true but the 6 million in seized settlements is real money going back to families. small consolation next to 1.37 billion tho
church groups and family group chats got hit hardest by novatech. same playbook as ozti, promoters crying “i was just a middleman” lol no you werent
the ozitech parallel is spot on. the middleman defense dies fast once the wire trail shows commission checks, four lifetime bans proves the AG saw it too
someone in my church group was pushing NovaTechFx back in 2022. took a collapsed fund and a billion dollar court order for people to finally call it what it was
church group pushing it in 2022 is the pattern that never changes. by the time a court order lands the aunties already ate the loss, 1.37 billion is theater at that point
same in my family group chat, an aunt put in 4k saved for a new roof because a promoter from church vouched for it. they knew exactly who to target
founders on the run while the promoters take bans. every one of those telegram groups had people asking about withdrawals for months before it collapsed
those telegram groups had withdrawal questions pinned for months and the promoters kept posting screenshots of new withdrawals. thats not a middleman, thats a script
withdrawal questions pinned for months while promoters kept posting fresh payout screenshots is the detail that kills the middleman defense
pinned questions plus fresh payout screenshots was the whole playbook. half those groups knew and stayed in for the referral money
a 1.37 billion judgment against founders on the run reads great in a press release and collects at roughly zero. the 6M seized is the actual recoverable math
a 1.37 billion order means nothing without extradition. watch whether interpol red notices actually follow or this stalls at the border
lifetime bans for four promoters while the founders sit offshore with the bulk of it. the AG gets the press release, victims get pennies