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Regulation & Policy · 1 min read

NY AG Secures Nearly $6M in Settlements From NovaTech Promoters, Seeks $1.3B

Promoters of the collapsed crypto pyramid scheme received permanent industry bans, while prosecutors asked a court to order founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion to pay $1.3 billion.

Editorial oversight: Julian Mercer, Chief Editor
Bearish

At a glance Enforcement action

What happened
New York AG Letitia James reached nearly $6 million in settlements with four NovaTech promoters and requested $1.3 billion from founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion on Oct. 22.
Why it matters
The settlement permanently excludes four key promoters from crypto and securities markets while seeking restitution for more than 11,000 New York victims.
Who is affected
NovaTech victims, promoters Martin Zizi, Frantz Ciceron, Ricardo Roy, Sr., James Corbett, and founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion.
Takes effect
2026-10-22
What's next
The court will evaluate the attorney general's inquest filing requesting a $1.3 billion order against the Petions.
Primary source
ag.ny.gov: Attorney General James Secures Nearly $6 Million From Crypto Scammers Who Targeted Haitian Communities

Key points

  • Four NovaTech promoters settled with the NY AG for nearly $6 million in victim restitution and received permanent cryptocurrency industry bans.
  • The New York Attorney General asked a court to mandate $1.3 billion in damages and disgorgement from fugitive NovaTech founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion.
  • NovaTech gathered over $1 billion in investor cryptocurrency between 2019 and 2023, but executed less than $26 million in actual trading operations.

New York Attorney General Letitia James secured nearly $6 million from four top promoters of cryptocurrency pyramid schemes NovaTech and AWS Mining, according to an Oct. 22 announcement from the Office of the Attorney General 1. The state also filed an inquest requesting a court order directing NovaTech founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion to pay $1.3 billion in damages and disgorgement 1.

The settlements resolve claims that promoters Martin Zizi, Frantz Ciceron, Ricardo Roy, Sr., and James Corbett made deceptive representations when offering AWS Mining contracts and NovaTech trading packages, operated as unregistered brokers, and participated in an unlawful pyramid structure 1. Under the agreements, Zizi will pay $2.9 million, Ciceron will pay $2.05 million, Corbett will pay $750,000, and Roy will pay $275,861 to fund victim restitution 1. All four promoters are permanently barred from participating in the securities, commodities, and cryptocurrency sectors 1.

Multilevel Marketing and Inquest Filings

The actions follow an initial lawsuit filed in June 2024 by Attorney General James against NovaTech and AWS Mining 1. Prosecutors alleged the operations targeted immigrant and faith communities—most notably Haitian New Yorkers—utilizing WhatsApp groups, religious gatherings, and advertisements in Haitian Creole promising returns between 2% and 4% weekly 1. AWS Mining initially ceased operations in 2019 after promising monthly yields of 15% to 20% that it failed to generate 1.

The Petions then established NovaTech, which collected more than $1 billion in deposits from global investors between August 2019 and April 2023 1. The attorney general’s office found that NovaTech deployed under $26 million to actual trading activity before halting withdrawals and collapsing in May 2023 1. Following a default judgment issued against the Petions in August 2025 after they left the United States, the court will now consider the state’s $1.3 billion inquest request 1.

Sources

  1. [1] Attorney General James Secures Nearly $6 Million From Crypto Scammers Who Targeted Haitian Communities — ag.ny.gov, October 22, 2026

Written by Basis Desk's newsroom system from the primary sources above and machine-verified against them before publication. Market figures marked "at the time of writing" come from live exchange data. Report an error: corrections@basisdesk.news · corrections policy.

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