Four promoters behind the NovaTechFx and AWS Mining cryptocurrency schemes have agreed to pay a combined $5.98 million and accept lifetime bans from the securities, commodities and cryptocurrency industries, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced. The settlements close out part of a case built around allegations that the schemes defrauded more than 11,000 New Yorkers, many of them targeted because of their immigrant or religious ties to Haitian communities.
According to fingerlakes1.com, the four individual payments break down unevenly: Martin Zizi agreed to pay $2.9 million, Frantz Ciceron $2.05 million, James Corbett $750,000 and Ricardo Roy Sr. $275,861. New York state officials accused the promoters of making false or misleading investment statements, operating as unregistered brokers and participating in an illegal pyramid scheme. The money is set to be disgorged for the benefit of victims, per the attorney general's office.
The settlements trace back to a lawsuit New York filed against NovaTechFx and AWS Mining Pty Ltd. in June 2024, alleging the companies defrauded investors of more than $1 billion, according to the New York Attorney General's Office. Investors who put money into the two platforms lived across New York City, Long Island, Westchester, Rockland County and Orange County, the state says.
How the Schemes Pulled In Victims
Investigators say the cryptocurrency schemes targeted Haitian and other immigrant communities through church prayer groups, social media and WhatsApp messages, according to The Haitian Times. James said NovaTech and AWS Mining misrepresented unsafe investments as safe while victims were caught in a pyramid scheme, and that scammers targeted immigrant and religious communities with promises of a better life before taking their life savings.
AWS Mining allegedly promised monthly returns of 15% to 20% and a 200% return within 15 months, along with recruitment bonuses for bringing in new investors, before it collapsed in 2019, the fingerlakes1.com report notes. NovaTech followed a similar arc on a much larger scale: investors deposited more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency with the platform between August 2019 and April 2023, while less than $26 million was actually traded. NovaTech collapsed in May 2023, and tens of thousands of investors were suddenly unable to withdraw their holdings, according to einpresswire.com.
A Fraction of What Was Lost
The nearly $6 million the four promoters agreed to pay represents only a fraction of what victims allegedly lost, according to a report from cryptobriefing.com. More than 11,000 New Yorkers from across the state invested in the schemes and lost tens of millions of dollars combined, per the same einpresswire.com account.
The attorney general's office has separately pursued NovaTech's founders, Cynthia and Eddy Petion. The office asked the court to order the Petions to pay $1.3 billion in damages and disgorgement.
Martin Zizi has also faced separate federal scrutiny. Zizi agreed to a $100,000 civil penalty and a permanent injunction against future securities violations in a matter before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with disgorgement to be determined later.
Part of a Broader Pattern
Federal regulators have flagged similar schemes aimed at other immigrant populations. The SEC has described a separate case, Forcount Trader Systems, as a fraudulent crypto-asset pyramid scheme that raised more than $8.4 million from hundreds of retail investors, primarily from Spanish-speaking communities in the United States and elsewhere, per the agency's own release. The four promoters' bans and payments mark one piece of a larger enforcement effort still working through New York's courts, with the fate of the NovaTech founders' case still unresolved.
