New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against NovaTech Ltd. and AWS Mining Pty Ltd., alleging that the cryptocurrency companies defrauded over $1 billion in investors.
The lawsuit claims that NovaTech, founded by Cynthia and Eddy Petion, enticed investors with promises of weekly profits, collecting over $1 billion over nearly four years before collapsing in May 2023. Only $26 million of the funds were reportedly used for trading, with the rest unaccounted for. Cynthia Petion, who branded herself as the Reverend CEO, allegedly called investors a cult and belittled them privately.
AWS Mining Pty Ltd. is accused of falsely claiming it could triple investors’ money within 15 months through cryptocurrency mining. This operation was closed in 2019 after misleading investors about its capabilities. The companies were pyramid schemes, with NovaTech also labeled a Ponzi scheme, which used new investors’ deposits to pay earlier investors.
The companies were accused of preying on Haitian and other immigrant communities based on their religious beliefs and promising a weekly return on investment., targeting them through prayer meetings, social networks, and WhatsApp, using Creole.
The 12 defendants named in the lawsuit include Petions, who is now living in Panama; NovaTech; AWS Mining, and associated individuals and companies. The specific issues that Attorney General James addressed include the high risks of fraud associated with the use of unregulated cryptocurrency platforms. She said that these cryptocurrency companies learned that immigrant and religious communities sell everything for their dreams and drain their savings.
In a recent report, disbarred attorney David Kagel recently pleaded guilty to conspiring in a separate cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that defrauded victims of over $9.5 million. Kagel and his accomplices misled investors with false promises of high-yield profits through cryptocurrency trading bots.
