New York Attorney General Sues Crypto Company For IDR 16.2 Trillion Fraud Targeting Immigrant Community

New York Attorney General Letitia James (photo: x @TishJames)

JAKARTA - New York's Attorney General, Letitia James, has filed a lawsuit against two crypto companies and their promoters. He accused them of defrauding hundreds of thousands of victims of more than $1 billion. The lawsuit filed in the Manhattan state court stated that NovaTech Ltd and AWS Mining Pty Ltd took advantage of people's religious beliefs from the Haitian immigrant community and others.

According to the lawsuit, investors tempted by the promise of weekly profits shipped more than $1 billion to NovaTech Ltd for nearly four years before the company collapsed in May 2023. However, only $26 million was used for trading.

James also claimed that AWS Mining Pty Ltd illegally promised to double investor money within 15 months through crypto mining, a promise that was not fulfilled until it collapsed in 2019.

The victims were reportedly targeted through prayer groups, social media, and WhatsApp, with some communication in Kreol. Among the 12 defendants were the founders of NovaTech, Cynthia and Eddy Petion, a married couple suspected of living in Panama. Cynthia Petion, who calls herself the "Reverend CEO," is accused of privately mocking her investors and calling them a "cultus."

James stated that the two companies operate as pyramid schemes and that NovaTech also serves as a Ponzi scheme, using new investor deposits to pay "profit" and old investor bonuses.

"This crypto company targets immigrants and religious communities with promises of financial freedom but instead steals their money and drains their life savings," James said. "We see the real danger of an unregulated crypto platform with a scheme like this."

The lawsuit asks for restitution for victims, civil compensation, and a ban on the defendants from the securities industry.