The NovaTech lawsuit has moved to the damages stage, with New York Attorney General Letitia James asking a court on October 22, 2026, to order founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion and related companies to pay about $1.37 billion. The request follows an August 2025 default judgment establishing liability; the amount now sought is not a newly awarded recovery.
Key Takeaways
- The court filing seeks about $1.13 billion in investor funds plus $232.5 million in interest.
- Four promoters separately agreed to pay nearly $6 million for victims and face permanent industry bans.
- More than 11,000 New Yorkers lost tens of millions of dollars through NovaTech and the earlier AWS Mining scheme.
Table of Contents
- NovaTech lawsuit moves from liability to damages
- Four promoters agree to payments and industry bans
- Investor deposits far exceeded money sent for trading
- Conclusion
NovaTech lawsuit moves from liability to damages
The court found the Petions and related companies liable by default in August 2025 after they failed to respond to the lawsuit. James had brought the case against NovaTech, AWS Mining and associated companies in June 2024.
The October 22 filing seeks the return of investor money and interest over NovaTech’s operations. It separately requests about $6.15 million, including interest, over AWS Mining, which collapsed in 2019.
The distinction between liability and recovery matters for investors: the default judgment established responsibility, while the latest request asks the court to set the financial award. A requested award does not establish that the money has been collected or distributed.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Martin Zizi | Agreed disgorgement: $2.9 million |
| Frantz Ciceron | Agreed disgorgement: $2.05 million |
| James Corbett | Agreed disgorgement: $750,000 |
| Ricardo Roy, Sr. | Agreed disgorgement: $275,861 |
Four promoters agree to payments and industry bans
The attorney general’s October 22 settlement announcement identifies four promoters who agreed to payments totaling nearly $6 million for the benefit of victims: Martin Zizi, Frantz Ciceron, Ricardo Roy, Sr., and James Corbett.
All four are permanently banned from participating in the securities, commodities and cryptocurrency industries. The settlements resolve claims involving misleading investment statements, acting as unregistered brokers and participation in an illegal pyramid scheme.
Those agreements are separate from the much larger damages request against the founders and related companies. The supplied announcement does not set out a timetable or process for distributing recovered funds to investors.
Investor deposits far exceeded money sent for trading
The court filing says investors deposited about $1.16 billion into NovaTech’s cryptocurrency wallets between August 2019 and May 2023. Only about $26 million was deposited with its trading provider, B2Broker, for trading, the attorney general said.
The complaint alleged that promoters targeted Haitian and other immigrant communities through prayer groups, social media and WhatsApp, promising high investment returns and recruitment bonuses. The attorney general said more than 11,000 New Yorkers lost tens of millions of dollars across NovaTech and AWS Mining.
After AWS Mining collapsed in 2019, the Petions started NovaTech. NovaTech collapsed in May 2023, leaving tens of thousands of investors unable to withdraw their cryptocurrency.
Conclusion
The next step is the court’s determination of the requested financial award. For investors, the amount ultimately recovered and the process for distributing it remain separate from both the existing liability judgment and the new damages request.
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